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TRANSFER NEWS: Agreement reached with @ReadingFC for striker Adam Le Fondre, subject to league ratification. pic.twitter.com/55E3mjhfdR
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) May 28, 2014
Reading Football Club can confirm that striker Adam Le Fondre has today joined Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee.
— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) May 28, 2014
TRANSFER NEWS: Agreement reached with @ReadingFC for striker Adam Le Fondre, subject to league ratification. pic.twitter.com/55E3mjhfdR
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) May 28, 2014
The Reading striker has finalised a transfer to recently relegated Cardiff City, arriving at the Welsh club for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £1m. Le Fondre has put pen to paper on a three year deal, leaving the Royals with a lack of senior striking options, currently consisting of only Pavel Pogrebnyak and Nick Blackman. As Charles Watts reported, the sale of Le Fondre has been crucial towards paying an outstanding tax bill.
This Le Fondre sale is a direct development of HMRC chasing #readingfc over tax. They need the cash asap.
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) May 27, 2014
Earlier in the summer, the 27 year old had told the media that he was unsure of his future in Berkshire, with contract talks stalling during the ownership uncertainty that emerged last season. Despite takeover talks progressing this week, Reading's highly uncertain financial situation means that the sale of Le Fondre was necessary, with the future of several other first team players also in question.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/ReadingFC">@ReadingFC</a> thank you for the memories! <a href="http://t.co/TaMOrzclJY">pic.twitter.com/TaMOrzclJY</a></p>— Adam Le Fondre (@A1F1E9) <a href="https://twitter.com/A1F1E9/statuses/471698434349858816">May 28, 2014</a></blockquote>
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The transfer follows a bid earlier in the season from the same club, Cardiff City, who made an offer for the former Rochdale and Rotherham striker at the end of the January window. However, the bid was thought to have been turned down by Sir John Madejski himself.
Since moving to the Royals in August 2011 for a fee of around £300,000, Le Fondre made 110 appearances, scoring 41 goals in all competitions.