Why Reading need to be wary of their contract situation

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It is not an unfamiliar situation for the fans of clubs up and down the country to have first team players approaching the end of their current deals and the debate commencing about who is deserving of a new offer and who is not. This can be nervous time for players and supporters alike as no one is quite sure of what will happen next. It could be the case that a player leaves on the cheap in the final 6 months of their contract, or after months of uncertainty final decide to commit their futures to their current clubs.

Reading have a slightly uncommon situation in Berkshire which may vary from many other sides as they have 3 players heading to Euro 2016 in the summer – Oliver Norwood, Chris Gunter, and Hal Robson-Kanu. The latter two are now into the final 6 months of their current contracts and have expressed an interest in extending their current stays at the Madejski stadium.

Gunter and Robson-Kanu have produced some steady and occasionally excellent performances for Reading this season. Gunter has been an ever-present for the Royals this season and Hal Robson-Kanu is now the longest serving player at the club. It seems that with these two heading to Euro 2016 to represent Wales this summer that it would be the perfect opportunity for the Reading board to tie down their contracts and ensure that that no one is going to poach the first Reading players to travel to one of the two biggest major tournaments since Bobby Convey back in 2006.

However, this is where the problems start. It is without doubt that many teams will be considering attempting to bid for any of Reading’s stand out players as many of Reading’s players are building good reputations in the game through their international play. It is not unlikely that a team would take a chance on a player who is about to travel a major tournament as every game is televised and shown all around the world, so it is a real opportunity for a player to propel their career and reputation to new levels.

The second issue is that since Reading are now spending their third consecutive season in the Championship – they can’t afford to be paying players Premier League wages. Many of Reading’s squad are currently coming towards the end of contracts that were signed for the Premier League and as a result are likely to be getting a very healthy wage for their troubles. Brian McDermott and the Reading board will know that will have to talk players down during negotiations if it is to be viable for players to remain in Berkshire beyond their the length of their current contracts.

Brian McDermott is a manager who puts team morale and chemistry as one of the top priorities when he is in charge of a squad. With this in mind, it is likely that McDermott would want to keep hold of players that he has either signed in the past or has worked with during his previous years at Reading. McDermott has inherited a squad that is very different to the one he built during his original stay at Reading. The squad experienced a massive turnover during the previous summer and it saw many players who were considered to be key under McDermott’s tenure move on – many of which were on free transfers. With this in mind, it is likely that the Reading manager would be keen to tie down the expiring contracts of players knowing that no less than 6 members of the first team squad are leaving as their loans expire at the end of the season, and with other sides potentially trying to lure some of the top talent away from Berkshire.

It is the opinion of many that Reading should be looking to tie up the contracts of all their key players whose contracts are running out between now and the end of next season. This makes sense from a number of perspectives for the Royals as they are currently sitting 15^th in the Championship and unless a terrific run of form was to arrive, it looks like they will be staying there for at least one more season after the 15/16 campaign has concluded. It is therefore important to make sure that Reading don’t let their key players go easily and that if they do leave; it is for a healthy fee.

In many ways, Reading are still dealing with the fallout of past ownerships that saw the club very nearly fall into the abyss just 18 months ago. However, the new owners are now in and have brought back Brian McDermott who spend more than a decade with Reading before his original dismissal in 2013. The board will no doubt be looking for some form of stability after already dismissing 2 managers during their time at the Madejski. A big part of stability at a football club is ensuring that key members of the squad are happy and are tied down at the club and many feel that wrapping up new deals for the likes of Chris Gunter, Hal Robson-Kanu, Oliver Norwood, and Danny Williams among others would be significant step towards achieving this stability.

Featured image: all rights reserved by Crystian Cruz.