Following the departures of Ovie Ejaria and Dom Ballard, Reading are left with two free spaces in the squad for January arrivals – if finances permit signings.
This season, we’ve struggled with quality more than quantity, and have consistently had team-selection predicaments, a refreshing problem to have after past years when we’ve had as much squad depth as a paddling pool.
So here, I’ll be looking at recruiting in the positions that have been a sort of revolving door in terms of players being unable to cement their place in the team, namely the left wing, and across the rest of the pitch in places where we could benefit from some more effective options off the bench.
Obviously, this is limited to free agents and potential loan signings, and I’ve tried to keep them all at least semi-realistic.
Ronan Curtis
The 27-year-old, who was linked to the Royals in 2018 and 2021, is now a free agent after being released from Portsmouth in the summer. Fans of the team will recognise his name. The left-winger made 25 appearances in the league during the 2022–2023 season before sustaining an ACL injury in February. In June, he declined a lower-paying contract with Pompey, choosing to forgo compensation while he recovered. However, he is currently without a club.
After moving from Derry City to Portsmouth in 2018, Curtis made 226 appearances and scored 57 goals, making him the club’s top scorer of the twenty-first century. However, he wasn’t without issues while he was there. “Goals, ill-advised Snapchat stories, assists, unwise parental tweets, a club record, nearly losing a finger in a door, triumph at Wembley, an incident outside a Portsmouth nightclub and perhaps most disappointingly for him, no promotion,” the BBC described the Irishman’s Pompey spell.
While he sounds like a character and maybe someone we would have been more likely to s
ign under Veljko Paunovic or Paul Clement, Curtis still has a good few years left in his career, and this ACL issue was his first major injury.
The 19-year-old, who had previously participated in the youth setups for Luton Town and Norwich City, only joined the Blues’ academy in the summer of 2023. He then established himself as a regular for the Canaries’ under-18 team in the 2022–2023 campaign and made it into the under-21 squad, where he scored three goals in Premier League 2. Frustrated by the dearth of first-team opportunities in East Anglia, he moved to West London, where Southampton and Newcastle United were vying for his signature.
It would have to be a loan signing, much like the brief agreement we had with Cesare Casadei during the previous season, but Matos will have plenty of time to establish himself in Reading’s campaign.
Pochettino, who is accelerating his development at Chelsea, said of him in training that he is “so smart, always watching everything, always smiling” and that “he looks very ready for first-team senior football.” However, he exhibits toughness when competing with the first team. He is very strong and fiercely competitive. He gives you a kick and beams at you! Having this kind of profile via the academy is nice.
Chukwuemeka, Caleb
Caleb is a 6’3″ free agent centre forward who is the brother of Chelsea star Carney Chukwuemeka. Despite not having the best
After graduating from the Northampton Town academy, Chukwuemeka went on to play 22 League One games for the Cobblers in the 2020–21 campaign. He made two goal contributions during that time, mostly coming off the bench, which led to a 2021 transfer to Aston Villa for an undisclosed sum.
Although he did not play for the senior team while at Villa Park, he did have stints on loans at Livingston and Crawley Town. He also played in a few Premier League 2 games for the Villans, where he was named the youth team’s September 2021 player of the month.
Caleb has had a challenging start to his football career, but he still has the rest of his career ahead of him. Therefore, he might benefit from being reintroduced to the men’s game with Reading and receiving the support he needs to get back up to speed in the Royals’ youth setup. But considering his age and potential, I would say that this would be a relatively low-risk free agent signing.
Tarique
The winger, who has played in 218 EFL games, declined a new deal with the Royals in 2017 in order to join Charlton, where he had a breakthrough season with 11 goals in 57 games for the Addicks. He only made one appearance in the top division later in his career at Brentford, as he was essentially shut out of the team once they made it to the Premier League.
He must have enough credentials to help a struggling League One team like Reading, though, if a Championship team like Rotherham United was willing to take him on loan last year. There must be a reason he is still free agent come January.
Fosu can undoubtedly perform well in a left-wing role.
The winger, who has played in 218 EFL games, declined a new deal with the Royals in 2017 in order to join Charlton, where he had a breakthrough season with 11 goals in 57 games for the Addicks. He only made one appearance in the top division later in his career at Brentford, as he was essentially shut out of the team once they made it to the Premier League.
He must have enough credentials to help a struggling League One team like Reading, though, if a Championship team like Rotherham United was willing to take him on loan last year. There must be a reason he is still free agent come January.
Fosu can undoubtedly perform well in a left-wing role.
While there have been rumours of names being linked to January arrivals, including Premier League loans and non-league players, Ruben Selles has not offered any recommendations. Hopefully, the squad will be strengthened in the New Year with the addition of some reinforcements.
January arrivals are more of a want than a need, at least this year.
Cheers to some signings in 2024!
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