Is this Latvian international the player that Reading desperately need?

Add as preferred source on Google

Strikers who can be classified as poachers are a difficult commodity to come by these days.

Reading have had some recent good luck with forwards of this description, namely Adam Le Fondre who scored some memorable goals for the Royals as they won the Championship in 2011/12 and spent a season in the top flight.

It was here that Le Fondre was a bright spark in an otherwise dark season; notching 14 goals on his way to breaking the record for most goals scored by a substitute in a Premier League season.

In recent matches, Deniss Rakels has shown himself to have the potential to become a dangerous player for Reading. He has only found the net on 3 occasions for the Championship outfit since his arrival in January, but he has already started to win round fans with his high work-rate and instinctive finishing inside the penalty area.

Reading managed to snatch up the 23 year old Latvian international for a few of around £500k during a transfer window which had seen both Nick Blackman and Orlando Sá leave the club.

It took until late February for Rakels to open his account but it was a last minute winner against Charlton at The Valley and since suffering a slight dry spell in the past couple of months – he has found the net in his last two away matches for the Royals.

One thing that will excite Reading fans heading into next season following a pretty poor couple of seasons will be the possibility of a Deniss Rakels and Yann Kermorgant strike-force taking them into the new campaign.

They have shown some great link-up play in the limited time they have spent on the pitch together and you have to feel as a Reading fan that as the language and play-style barriers start to fade that these two could form a very fruitful partnership between them.

The Latvian international is also causing some excitement at the Madejski Stadium as he is a player who is willing to go at defences and attempt to use his pace to get in behind them – which is a very worthwhile tactic when you have players like Kermorgant and Norwood who are more than capable when it comes to finding a player with a quick pass.

Prior to his arrival in Reading, you could be forgiven for having never heard of Deniss Rakels. Despite his relatively small reputation within the game, Rakels arrived at Reading with a great goal-scoring record behind him, both in his homeland and in Poland. He had previously developed himself a somewhat less attractive reputation as something of an eccentric character.

However, since his move to Reading he has showed great application on the pitch and that is all the fans will likely be concerned about – especially given the antics of two other internationals in the Championship side’s squad in recent weeks.

The Reading man will need a lot of attention in order to keep him on the straight and narrow and this will be a big task for Brian McDermott, but McDermott has a past record of motivating Reading players and getting them playing some great football. There is no doubt that he will be relishing the chance to continue working with Rakels and it could prove to be a very promising working relationship.

The Latvian has a very real possibility of becoming something which Reading have missed since the departure of Adam le Fondre back in 2014 – a genuine out and out goal-scorer.

The Royals must have thought they had landed their man when Vydra signed at the start of the season, but he has had a largely disappointing campaign away from Watford and is actually tied with Rakels for goals despite seeing a whole lot more football than the Latvian this season.

With this season in its final act and preparations for next campaign already in motion; it is possible that Rakels could grow into a larger role in the squad once the summer has been completed. The Reading side is likely to be one that is all change with contracts winding down and loans expiring.

This could prove to be the perfect platform for Rakels as he looks to establish himself as a regular starter and build on what has been a promising couple of months for the Latvian international. He could prove to be the man Reading have been searched for in recent seasons as they look to get themselves back into the top flight after four long years in the second tier.

Featured image: All rights reserved by tomjacobs1992