Reading finalise deals for defenders

Reading have completed the signing of the defensive duo of Watford's Adrian Mariappa and Nottingham Forest's Chris Gunter.

Mariappa, 25, put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal yesterday, with the deal worth around £2 million with various add-ons in due course. The Harrow-born defender is capable of playing in the centre of defence or at right-back, where he primarily played in the Premier League for Watford back in 2007. He made 216 appearances in total for the Hornets, scoring four goals in his seven-year spell with the club.

Gunter, who is a Welsh international, also signed a three-year deal at the Madejski Stadium yesterday, with the option of an extra year. The transfer fee for the former Tottenham player is believed to be around £2.3 million, after Forest rejected a bid of £1.5 million from the Royals back in May. Despite only being 22-years old, Gunter has played over 200 competitive games for club and country.

Vital Reading hopes to have scout reports on these two players on the site by next week, with in-depth opinion's from Watford and Nottingham Forest supporters. This has been very shrewd business from McDermott, signing up two defenders who clearly have the ability to play in the Premier League. Do Reading fans feel we need to spend any more though? Is this squad now good enough to survive?

Wiki Page: Adrian Mariappa

Wiki Page: Chris Gunter

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