‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’: Reading boss on possibility of January additions

Reading manager Noel Hunt has confirmed that the club have asked the English Football League about the possibility of making any signings in January.

The Royals remain under a transfer embargo, as they have been since 2020, and will be unable to conduct business until their financial records are submitted.

However, the team is hoping that loanee Chem Campbell, who signed a short-term contract in the summer that ended this month, can extend it.

With only 11 senior first-team players enrolled, teenagers from the Under-18s and Under-21s have risen up to become regulars in Hunt’s first team.

Fears continue about player sales in January, since five left last year without the permission of then-manager Ruben Selles.

Speaking after Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Charlton Athletic, Hunt indicated that the club is in continuous contact with the EFL to see what can be done to strengthen this winter.

“Obviously, we must ask the question. If you do not ask, you will not receive. Brian [Carey] is well ahead of the game and is in discussions. We want to do things correctly, but we must ask these questions. Everyone has heard the narrative; we just have to carry on with it regardless.”

The window closes on Monday, February 3 at 11 p.m., a day that cannot come soon enough for everyone involved with the club.