Transfer Rumours Following Tom Ince Departure

29 June 2023
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Tom Ince's move to Championship team Watford has been confirmed after Watford were able to make the most of a relegation clause in Ince's contract to trigger the move. Ince is understood to have moved in a cut price deal to leave Reading's squad depleted further. Ince was a key player last season and Reading struggled after he was ruled out in March with an injury. Despite missing the end of the season, as Reading ended up relegated to League One, Ince was named as Player of the Season.

Ince originally arrived at Reading on loan from Stoke City in Janauary 2022 and stayed with the Royals for the rest of the season before signing a permanent deal in the summer. His best form was at the start of the 2022/2023 season as Reading fans were given high hopes with Reading briefly top of the Championship table. It all went wrong after that and now Reading are without both Inces, manager and son, and face life in the second tier with an amazingly small first team squad. Tom Ince made 54 appearances for the Royals during his one and half year stay, scoring 11 goals.

Other than Ince there are plenty of transfer rumours floating around. Tom McIntyre is still expected to leave the club. For incoming transfers, there were hopes that Brentford's Fin Stevens could join on a loan deal, but he is now expected to join League One rivals Oxford United. Obviously Oxford United are now considered a better prospect for a player than Reading. Theo Walcott has gone from made-up rumour to a likely signing given he will be leaving Southampton and has links to new Reading manager Selles. Walcott got a full quota of game time at Southampton under Selles in the Premier League, so our new manager is clearly a fan of Walcott. It does open the posibility of other out-of-contract Southampton players considering dropping down a league to link up with their former manager - or is that wishful thinking? Walcott would certainly be a great asset to have for League One football.

It is also being reported that Reading could sign out of contract, former Cambridge player Harvey Knibbs. Knibbs is a forward player who was a firm regular last season for Cambridge. He joined Cambridge in the summer of 2019 from the Aston Villa youth set-up and scored 18 goals in 121 appearances over 4 seasons with Cambridge. Knibbs is still just 24 years old, so despite being released by Cambridge, would be a welcome free transfer to extend the squad.

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