Gylfi is leaving Reading

[Millsy]

Earliest Gylfi probably knew of this as travelling back on team bus last night. So in 24 hours he is out in Germany! Maybe he gets bad vibes, can't agree terms and engineers a move to Fulham come Tuesday afternoon!

True but it's not the point, sadly, even if things fall through and he stays here.

The point is Madejski is willing to continue bleeding this club dry before he leaves, whether he manages to sell Gylfi or not. If he doesn't go now because of some freak then it will happen sooner or later anyway.

The truth is out. The damage is already done in my eyes.

UNLESS we've got a really decent midfielder lined up who will slot straight in (loan or permanent, but who we eventually sign permanently) AND we use some of the cash to spend maybe 1million on a decent defender who turns out to be a real contender AND the same-ish on a Doyle or Kitson-esque striker. Before I choose to go heavily anti-Madejski I'm open to that. Think about it: woud we rather have a Gylfi or a close-enough replacement PLUS decent striker and defence cover for a fraction of the cost. We don't know all the facts yet. I was gutted when McDermott joined and was on the verge of going against Madejski big time but ate humble pie when I saw what a fantastic decision it was. Madejski has generally succeeded with this club and there's no reason to suspect he's suddenly going crazy.... unless of course he actually just wants to bleed us dry and leave as I say above... which is sadly likely.

[Mike Hunt]

If this is true, and we of course do not get adequate replacements, JM can suck my fcking dick. Sell the club you cenile old fck.

If it is not true - please discount the previous statement.

I agree it may be advantageous to the team as a whole if the money was reinvested into the squad, but we all know that this will not happen.

WeLOLLOL ROFLun CLOLub.

Fckers.

[Jimbo]

I was resisting the urge to post until after the transfer deadline but couldn't help myself.

I have passionately defended this club against a barrage of negativity and moaning recently, but IF this is true then Sir John can take my season ticket and shove it. He's so desperate to get back in the Premiership that he's going to sell one of the most talented players I have ever seen at this club.
Teams in financial trouble like Palace and Cardiff can still bring in players like Davids or Bellamy and yet somehow we have to sell our best player, someone who publicly committed himself to the club for at least another season.

Ok, calm down, maybe this is all a bad dream.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I was resisting the urge to post until after the transfer deadline but couldn't help myself.

I have passionately defended this club against a barrage of negativity and moaning recently, but IF this is true then Sir John can take my season ticket and shove it. He's so desperate to get back in the Premiership that he's going to sell one of the most talented players I have ever seen at this club.
Teams in financial trouble like Palace and Cardiff can still bring in players like Davids or Bellamy and yet somehow we have to sell our best player, someone who publicly committed himself to the club for at least another season.

Ok, calm down, maybe this is all a bad dream.

Problem is I reckon it won't just be Gylfi. Reckon 1 other will also go. If QPR start waving cash at Jobi could you really blame him if he left? They unlike us have a genuine chance of promotion.

[Pablo]

[Millsy]

I was resisting the urge to post until after the transfer deadline but couldn't help myself.

I have passionately defended this club against a barrage of negativity and moaning recently, but IF this is true then Sir John can take my season ticket and shove it. He's so desperate to get back in the Premiership that he's going to sell one of the most talented players I have ever seen at this club.
Teams in financial trouble like Palace and Cardiff can still bring in players like Davids or Bellamy and yet somehow we have to sell our best player, someone who publicly committed himself to the club for at least another season.

Ok, calm down, maybe this is all a bad dream.

Problem is I reckon it won't just be Gylfi. Reckon 1 other will also go. If QPR start waving cash at Jobi could you really blame him if he left? They unlike us have a genuine chance of promotion.

Exactly.

As I say above this isn't about Gylfi leaving or not leaving.

This is about it becoming clear and evident what has been happening to our club.

[themadstad]

Got a feeling this is true. Very bad news indeed, now I believe there will be another high profile sale before the window closes.

Very unhappy with this but not that I or anyone else can do much about it. We will never get a replacement as good, if any! Will probably just switch to a 4-4-2 formation as that doesn't really suit Gylfi.

I think this is compounded by Madejski going on about determination getting back to the Prem League.

[Big Foot]

Listen to you wet bunch of bastards, no one player is bigger than the club and I'll support Reading FC long after Gylfi Sigurdsson or Eusebio have donned a blue & white hooped shirt.

Yes, it'd be disappointing to lose one of our better players but to say you "literally feel sick" at the thought of him leaving is somewhere between hilarious and painstakingly embarrassing*

*TBC tomorrow, I'm going to sleep on it before deciding whether to laugh at or be embarrassed for the concerned parties

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Seems to me that Siggy signed a new deal with an £3m escape clause, according to the Chronicle report on friday, so far no one has come along and offered that. Now it appears Hoffers have put the money on the table. I would love to see him stay, but the club were fair in the new deal, as was Siggy.

You cannot really blame the club or JM, how do you get a player to stay when a much better offer comes along, it will be the same with McNuff and Feds, money talks.

As a club RFC should not just throw money at one or two players, we have a budget for wages, players here still earn a good salary, most will be on at least £200k a year, which may not be in Rooneys league, but is still a lot of money.

We could double the wages of all the players, and post a loss each season, but that would not make the players any better than they are, just better paid. Npot something JM wants or is willing to do.

[prostak]

"Kicker" magazine in Germany are allegedly reporting he has agreed terms.

Where? I've checked the TSG-specific page and just searched the whole site for 'Sigurdsson' but can find zero mention. Indeed, it only seems to be the English papers which have picked this up. In other words, I'll believe it when either club issue a statement.

[Millsy]

Listen to you wet bunch of bastards, no one player is bigger than the club and I'll support Reading FC long after Gylfi Sigurdsson or Eusebio have donned a blue & white hooped shirt.

You're right but missing the point.

A) True this isn't about one player. It's about the attitude such a sale displays and what that means for our club. It changes things significantly.

B) We'll all still be supporting RFC, albeit with less season tickets I imagine.

But I salute you for being the first to try and help us hold our chins up for our mental health if nothing else!

[southsideroyal]

I'm not disappointed that Gylfi will be sold; I always knew he would. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that it looks like it will be Hoffenheim. Don't get me wrong, Hoffenheim is a good club and the Bundesliga is a big deal, but I feel like the club and Gylfi (and JM) could do better. It wasn't hyperbole last season when BM talked about Gylfi playing for Madrid some day. Gylfi's deft touch and finish on yesterday's goal was top class and every bit as impressive as some of his long range goals. One more year to showcase his talents with Reading and he could have gone on to a bigger club for a bigger fee. Hopefully there will be a nice fat sell-on clause if he does go to Hoffenheim (+ I'll have a club to follow in the Bundesliga).

[Arch]

Our last league game was an away win over Leicester. Seems like a long time ago now. I'll be forming my judgments about the club on how we do in the next game, not to mention the rest of the season. We've just finished our eighth successive season in the top 30 teams in the country. I'm dying to see if we can make it nine, then ten. If not, I'll be disappointed and if we don't get back to that level in the next two or three years I'll believe it's time for change at the top.

But shove your season ticket up JM's arse after a win and without waiting for the next result? Give me a fuccing break.

[Barry the bird boggler]

It's only a good sale if the fee is massive and Heston is allowed to spend on the squad either in the way of loans or permanents.

Personally, even if Gylfi is subject of this bid, then there's no guarantee that he'll accept terms anyway as he may feel another year as a regular at Reading in the Championship would help his game more than amove a broad and all the upheaval that in itself would cause.

Still reckon it's most likely Fulham will be signing Skippy in the next couple of days

Just imagine what the fan reaction would be though if we got, say, 5 million for both players and Heston got nothing of it save perhaps a sop to cover an inexperienced centre back on loan....

[under the tin]

Why are so many reacting (if this proves true) with surprise?
Gylfi is, bar none, the best "home produced" player this club has had in the last 40 years (maybe longer),
He is an ambitious competitive sportsman who deserves to be given the chance to play at the highest level, and it would take an abolute oxf*rd to stand in his way, and a complete sw*ndon head not to accept the inevitability of this day coming.

The sixty four thousand dollar question is, however, how much of the proceeds of sale are going to be ploughed back into the team?

If we are to take as gospel the comments stating that Brian has to sell before he can buy, that suggests he has a degree of autonomy in how he uses money generated by player sales.
How wisely he uses that money will ultimately determine his and the club's medium term future.

Should he buy poor players, and we (god forbid) wind up getting relegated as a result, Brian will probably lose his job, and this fan will take that on the chin. Ah well, nice days out at Bournemouth, etc.

If, however, we get a stony faced chairman talking about financial black holes, Brian being given a pittance to reinvest, the other box office players moving on, disillusioned with the denigration of the playing strength.
In that scenario, should we get relegated, I will register my disapproval by not renewing my season ticket, even if Parkinson is appointed.

[RG30]

"Kicker" magazine in Germany are allegedly reporting he has agreed terms.

Where? I've checked the TSG-specific page and just searched the whole site for 'Sigurdsson' but can find zero mention. Indeed, it only seems to be the English papers which have picked this up. In other words, I'll believe it when either club issue a statement.

I'm told it was in the print version and not on the website.

[Man Friday]

Daily Mirror:
Reading midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson is a shock £4.25million target for German giants Hoffenheim. Sigurdsson is heading for a surprise exit from the Royals after Hoffenheim stepped up their interest over the weekend.
The Iceland international only agreed a new three-year deal with Reading in May after scoring 21 goals in all competitions last season.
But Hoffenheim - the current joint leaders in the Bundesliga - are ready to table a bid on Monday and expect to recruit the midfielder in the next 24 hours.
Reading could use the cash to fund a £1m move for Leicester striker Matty Fryatt, who is surplus to requirements under new boss Paulo Sousa.
...but good enough for us? Jeez. Well-run club my arse.

[Rex]

We all knew he was going to go at some point. If he goes there had better be some background noise that this club is acting upon or this is going to be a long and painful season. It's a moot point but i'd rather he went early in the season, than in the next transfer window when it could be more destructive to the clubs aspirations Back up plan needed, actually scrub that, a vital back up plan should have been well under way eons ago.

[Sir Dodger Royal]

Real Facts from the Main Mannnnnnnnnnnnn:
Hoffenheim have completed the signing of midfielder Sebastian Rudy from Bundesliga rivals Stuttgart for an undisclosed fee.
The 20-year-old Germany Under-21 international has penned a four-year contract with Hoffe, having struggled to become a first-team regular with his former club.
General manager Ernst Tanner told Hoffe's official club website: "We are delighted that Sebastian - a player we have been aware of for a long time - has joined us. "He is a player who fits perfectly into our philosophy and I am confident that he will settle quickly into the team."
Rudy's arrival coincides with Carlos Eduardo leaving Hoffe to join Russian club Rubin Kazan and is an ideal replacement and now completes our midfield.
The 23-year-old Brazil international had spent the last three seasons in Germany, but has now opted to head to Russia on a four-year contract.

[IcelandicStokie]

Gylfi and his father are currently in London in negotiations with Hoffenheim directors.