Reading’s January 2024 Transfer Departures: Where Are They Now?

Reading’s January 2024 Transfer Departures: Where Are They Now?

How are the former Royals doing now that Reading lost several important players in the winter transfer window a year ago?

January 2024 (funny how that works, isn’t it?) felt like a pretty tough time for us, and now a full year has gone by. It

felt, at best, like a cash-raising exercise and, at worst, like an asset-stripping one to sell a large number of players for

extremely low prices without fully telling the management.

But for the most part, we’ve been fine ever since. Considering our concerns about the outcome of the January 2025

window, it might be worthwhile to remember that there is always life after the leavers.

Here I stop by to check in on the old faces and see how they have been getting on since saying goodbye to us.

Ovie Ejaria

Ovie Ejaria’s departure is technically not a January departure, but I’m going to add it because it happens near

enough to the January window. In any event, it could be intriguing to learn about his recent activities.

Ejaria had a lot of expectations, especially following John Swift’s departure to West Bromwich Albion. It never really

worked out for him, though, for a number of reasons. Although you would think that the misdemeanours had ended,

the injuries did seem to come up with him.

His release in December 2023 was followed shortly after by his trial at Plymouth Argyle. That didn’t work out,

though, and he tried again with Oxford United in the summer of 2024, but it didn’t work out either.

Most recently, Ejaria was on trial with Zamalek SC, an Egyptian team managed by José Gomes and currently ranked

fourth in the Egyptian top league. But once more, this was in vain, and no contract was presented. His recuperation

from the knee injury that kept him out of play for so long with us also appears to have been the main source of

anxiety.

It’s a desperately sad situation for a player who had so much potential. I hope Ejaria is able to find a place to ply his

trade and build up his confidence and fitness once again.

Nelson Abbey

Of all the January 2024 sales, for me, this one hurt the most. After breaking through into the first team due to

a stellar League Cup performance at Millwall, he was a standout performer in the early part of Ruben Sellés’ tenure.

However, his excellent displays – and they really were good, he was outperforming Tyler Bindon – meant clubs took

notice, and there were soon discussions about a move to Luton Town. However, he eventually made the left-field

switch to Greek side Olympiacos.

He wasn’t really given much of a chance to prove himself during the second half of the 2023/24 season there, only

making four appearances. This led to a season-long loan move in the summer to Championship side Swansea City.

However, this didn’t go to plan either. Swansea do have quite a strong centre-back pairing of Ben Cabango and Harry

Darling, but Abbey didn’t even get a look-in on the bench, racking up just 58 minutes of football, all in one Carabao

Cup game. In January he was recalled and sent back out on loan, this time to Rio Ave.

It’s a real shame to see such a talent get wasted. A player of his quality deserves to play, especially at this stage of his

development.

Tom Holmes

Following their failure to acquire Abbey, Luton Town focused on Tom Holmes, a fellow centre-back. At the time, it

seemed like they were making this transfer to bring in cover and Championship-level experience in anticipation of

their anticipated relegation from the Premier League. This sentiment was further supported by Luton’s willingness to

let Holmes rejoin us on loan for the balance of the 2023–2024 campaign.

After spending some time out of the starting lineup earlier in the season, Holmes had been playing as the regular

starter on the right side of the centre-back combination. With Abbey’s departure, Bindon took his place on the left.

It looked promising to start with; Holmes’ physical presence and aerial ability were really valuable for us. However,

he picked up an injury and Amadou Mbengue was drafted in instead, and the rest is history for the Mbengue/Bindon

pairing.

With Luton playing a back three in the Championship, Holmes didn’t immediately get into the first team. However,

he seems to have now nailed down a position on the right side of the back three, though sometimes he has been

known to pop up in the centre or on the left of that trio.

So far season, Holmes has made 16 appearances for Luton in the league, contributing a goal and an assist. The

Hatters have struggled to re-capture their previous Championship form that got them promoted from the play-offs in

2022/23, are fighting to stay out of the relegation places, and recently swapped manager Rob Edwards for former

Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield. You’d imagine Holmes’ experience in relegation battles will be an asset

for the side.

Caylan Vickers

Much like Abbey, Caylan Vickers was another one to break through into the first team last season after performing

well at The Den.

His performances didn’t go unnoticed and Brighton & Hove Albion swooped in with an offer to take him into their

under-21s set-up. It’s hard to begrudge him the move and, frankly, it’s quite the compliment to how highly he is

regarded, given how well known Brighton are for identifying young talent and giving them a chance to develop at a

higher level.

While he isn’t troubling the first team yet – he’s only just turned 20, after all – he is starring for the under-21s. In 10

Premier League 2 games so far this season2, he has delivered five goals and two assists. He has also featured in the

EFL Trophy, with three appearances bringing one goal.

On this basis, it seems he’s ticking along nicely and it won’t be long before we see him either venture out on loan

somewhere or begin to get some minutes from the bench in first-team cup competitions.

Taylan Harris

Harris broke out last season through an EFL Trophy rotation, scoring a goal and providing an assist in the historic 9-

0 win against Exeter City. He otherwise made only one Reading first-team squad, failing to get off the bench against

Ipswich Town in the League Cup, but clearly he made an impression in this fixture and his time in the academy.

So much so that Luton came knocking again, and got in place a somewhat surprising agreement to take him over to

their youth set-up.

I’m not entirely sure what he stood to gain from this move, if I’m honest, given Reading’s academy is far more

developed. I suspect better money being on offer, and the pressure from the club to make the move to raise finances,

were factors.

Having made the move, he largely seems to have disappeared off the radar in their under-21s, often only making the

bench for the side. Hopefully he is given a chance to kick on from there, as his stats while with Reading’s academy

set-up were hugely impressive.

Tom McIntyre

Aside from Abbey’s relocation, this was the final departure in January and most likely the one that caused the most

uproar. This was not just because Reading lost a vital player who had just recovered from injury, but also because

Portsmouth, a League One team, reportedly agreed to a pitiful amount with Reading. Portsmouth saw an opening

and seized it.

Unbelievably, McIntyre was sent off for the challenge after breaking his ankle in a Jonathan Woodgate-style debut.

Although the league later revoked the red card, injuries cannot be reversed, so he missed the remainder of the

previous campaign.

McIntyre, who returned to action in September, has made 12 league appearances so far this season for a Portsmouth

team that is battling relegation from the Championship. Although he hasn’t been able to maintain a consistent spot

in the starting lineup, he appears to still have his manager’s trust even though he hasn’t had a chance to perform at

his peak yet.

Portsmouth plays a back four, and McIntyre hasn’t actually played in a back four in a long time, so it’s likely a

combination of injury concerns and whatnot. But you would think he could make a claim in the starting lineup if he

had a strong run.

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