Puscas’ signing has caused a great deal of suffering at Select Car Leasing Stadium.
The collapse of Reading can be attributed in part to the team’s hiring selections made between 2017 and 2019, which included costly acquisitions like Puscas and subpar transfers.
One of the best examples of Reading’s financial rule violations, which led to point deductions and the possibility of relegation to League Two, was the signing of Puscas.
A fan base already strained by past setbacks would be devastated by back-to-back relegations, and their unhappiness would be compounded by the expensive and ineffective signing of Puscas.
Although they have been subject to constraints, the Berkshire team has actually improved their recruitment throughout that time. However, some of their poor transfer decisions between 2017 and 2019 have contributed to the downturn that they have not yet been able to stop.
Dai and his sister Dai Xiu Li assumed leadership of the team in May 2017, but Yongge has consistently appeared to be the primary decision-maker during their time together at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
When they arrived, the Royals were having some success. In 2017, they made it to the Championship play-off final, but they were defeated by Huddersfield Town at the last hurdle.
They didn’t completely rebuild their team in the summer of 2017, which was advantageous because it meant they didn’t have to make many adjustments.
However, the majority of their additions during that transfer window failed to pan out. Vito Mannone, who joined from Sunderland, failed to live up to the hype, Dave Edwards failed to live up to the hype, and Sone Aluko failed to live up to the hype after joining from Fulham.
Actually, Mo Barrow was the only signing that was really encouraging. The next year saw more bad choices, and Sam Baldock and Marc McNulty were unable to deliver.
The club was subject to a mild embargo in the early going of the 2019 summer transfer window, but when it was removed, they had to pay hefty sums for players like Lucas Joao and George Puscas. That summer was the most insane of the Dai period.
What was Reading FC’s expenditure for George Puscas?
The Romanian international will join the Royals at SCL Stadium after a £7.5 million deal was reportedly reached, according to The Sun.
That is an absurd amount of money for a team that the EFL had placed under em
bargo earlier that summer, and Puscas was reportedly a club record signing.
That transaction exceeded the sum that the Berkshire side had to pay for Aluko in 2017.
Why is Reading FC still plagued by the signing of George Puscas?
Since the striker was only one of several new players who helped the Royals violate the EFL’s financial regulations, he shouldn’t be made into a scapegoat.
Furthermore, even if he had continued playing at a high level throughout the 2019–20 season and beyond, the team’s overall performance was insufficient to propel the club to promotion.
In his debut season in Berkshire, he scored 12 goals in 38 league games, which isn’t a bad record, but he couldn’t play up front on his own and, along with Aluko and Emerse Fae, is perhaps one of the worst acquisitions the Royals have made in terms of value for money.
Puscas’ signing epitomized the extent to which Ruben Selles’ team broke financial regulations, leading to a six-point deduction in November 2021 and an additional six points being docked in the latter part of the previous season for not adhering to all business plan requirements.
If they hadn’t disobeyed the regulations, they wouldn’t have been put under this plan; as a result of this second deduction, they were essentially demoted to League One.
This season, the team has also suffered and lost four more points; this is not because of the Puscas signing, but rather cash flow problems.
However, they wouldn’t be facing relegation to League Two right now if they had stayed up and dealt with these issues in the Championship.
To a supporter that has already endured so much in recent years, two straight relegations would be an absolute gut punch.
They arrived at their current position through a number of transfer decisions, but the signing of Puscas is especially painful because he was highly expensive, failed to live up to expectations, and was released before his initial contract with the club expired.
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