Readying Reading for the Prem... where to strengthen?

[Runc]

2nd season with Reading, promoted to Premiership and League Cup winners.


In the first season I bought Darwin Quintero and Stuart Parnaby and had Jamie Mackie on loan (also picked up Sergio for a year contract to back up a weak midfield after injuries, but plan to let him go now). The bad news is I've lost Kebe to Fiorentina. I've got a tough season ahead and feel there's a lot of shoring-up needed. I've been playing 442 with wingers and will probably stick with that.


So far I've picked up:


Luuk De Jong (free), Jerson Cabral (1.1m), Barry Bannan (2.4m), Kyle Bartley (2.1m)


My team is now looking like:


GK: Adam Federici, (Mikkel Andersen)
LB: Andy Griffiths, (Ian Harte, Joseph Mills)
RB: Stuart Parnaby, (Shaun Cummings)
CB: Kaspars Gorkss, Kyle Bartley, (Alex Pearce, Sean Morrison)
MC: Barry Bannan, Jem Karacan, (Mikele Leigertwood, Jay Tabb)
AML: Jobi McAnuff, (Hal Robson-Kanu, Jordan Obita)
AMR: Jerson Cabral (Hal Robson-Kanu, Jordan Obita)
ST: Darwin Quintero, Luuk De Jong, (Noel Hunt)


I'd like to hold onto a couple of million for a possible January transfer, so I can look to spend about 5 million more. I think I can get Patrick van Aanholt on a season loan as an LB. Also hoping to get Roberto Pereyra loaned from Udinese but expect work permit problems.


So... where will 5 million be best spent? Which bits of the team are most in need of strengthening?

 

[TheBeardOfZeus]

Some good players there!

Personally, I played as Reading last year, and got relegated on the last day of the season. My advice with the squad is definitely look to replace Griffiths as he's in his late 30's now, add an extra centre back, as Kaspars Gorkss isn't really this level, add an extra decent CM as you may need to have a 4-5-1 for more difficult games, and better cover for McAnuff/Cabral, as Robson-Kanu is not enough on his own.

 

[Runc]

Cheers BoZ!

All good points. Griffiths doesn't make it through a full 90 minutes anymore so that's a priority. Harte and Mills did well for me last season so they should be decent cover if the van Aanholt loan goes through. The 451 advice is good. I played that for some cup matches, swapping a striker for a DMC, and scraped through some tough games. The DC position is a big worry. Pearce was brilliant at times last season but also had a bunch of nightmare games, while Gorkss got tired a lot.

I reckon for 4 million or so I can get either Jan Kirchhoff or Rhys Williams. Kirchoff looks good for the future, and should do the job at DC right away, while Williams gives that extra CM (DMC) cover and can also stand in as DC or DR. I reckon I'll see if I can get Kirchhoff to sign for Reading (there goes another agent in a new Bentley).

 

[CsAtlantis]

Try and get Kyle Naughton, I think he could be available for 1.6 million pounds if he is transfer listed for Tottenham in second season (bought him for AS Monaco)

Is Sebastian Puygrenier available for free? I think he should be a good enough CB

You can also try to see how much Marco Veratti costs, he shouldn't be too expensive if he is still at Pescara and has bags of potential