Royals Transfer News

Funds have been made available to Steve Coppell for the January transfer window by Chairman John Madejski and Readings Director of Football, Nicky Hammond, has said that scouts are already scouring the earth for fresh talent to bring to the Madejski Stadium.

The Royals are rumoured to be keeping a watchful eye upon summer targets John Mensah and Emerse Fae, who could, if you believe the hype, be on their way to in a town in Berkshire near you soon.

Reading tried unsuccessfully to sign the pair before the start of this seasons first premier league campaign but offers of cash far higher then anything Reading have offered before were turned down.

Reading offered a cool £5million to Rennes for Ghanian defender Mensah while 5million euros were turned down by Nantes for the Ivorian midfielder Fae.

The African duo are both currently plying their trade in the French top flight, so as long as Reading continue to keep away from relegation danger a move to the Royal county could be a stepping to stone in their careers.

Meanwhile Nicky Hammond revealed that club are also scoping out some other players:
"We`ve done an enormous amount of travelling recently in the UK and abroad.
"We`ve been firming up some potential names and the manager makes certain trips when relevant."

There were Reading scouts present at Plymouth Argyle`s recent encounter with newly relegated Birmingham, and Steve Coppell is alleged to have been overseas recently watching games.

As suggested in a previous article, Reading will look to pad out their forward options with Dave Kitson`s return date still unset; as of yet no names have been thrown around by the club or the press but Hammond confirmed that this will be something to look into:

"The chairman has said there are funds to spend and we`re trying to find the right players.

"But we`ve got to be careful because prices can be over-inflated in January."

Hammond made it clear that the club were not looking to annex any players from their position in the club though:

"We`re a couple of months into the season so we can look at who`s coping, who has stepped up to the plate and the size of the squad, so we have a clear picture of what we need to do in January to keep us competitive in this division."

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.