Reading Chasing Slovenian Striker Robert Beric

After the signing of Orlando Sa earlier this week, it looks as though Steve Clarke is keen to add another striker to his squad.

Robert Beric scored 27 goals for Rapid Vienna last season in the Austrian Bundesliga during his first season with the club, after netting ten times for Sturm Graz in his previous campaign. Now it seems as though he could be on the move again, with Reading chasing his signature.

Austrian website kurier.at has a fascinating interview with Rapid's sporting director Andreas Müller in which he explicitly details the extent of negotiations so far.

According to Müller, the Royals have already had two bids rejected for the striker, who has been capped by Slovenia six times without scoring. Rapid signed the 24-year-old from Graz for around €700,000 Euros but just one year later could afford to reject a €3.5 million bid from Reading.

And Müller says a bid of around €5 million (roughly £3.5 million) would be the tipping point for a sale - which he expects the Royals to meet. Roughly translated from the original article:

"We have set a price of €5.4 million. That would be a record in the club's history. From there, we would need to talk about a sale. I would have no problem rejecting that bid but it's also about whether Beric would want to move. There's no point keeping an unhappy striker. If the €5.4 million bid comes in, we need to clarify the situation with Robert."

If the rumours are true, then this is a big statement from Reading, Steve Clarke and of course the Thai owners. The Royals' current transfer record fee is £2.5 million on Emerse Fae, who, it's fair to say, wasn't a shining light during his one season at the club. Signing Beric, a young striker with an impressive strike rate, would show the club once again means business.

Of course, it's all speculation right now, and there will be more questions if the transfer does take place. Can Beric translate that form from the Austrian Bundesliga to the second division of English football? How will Steve Clarke manage Beric, Sa and Pogrebnyak? And what does this mean for the likes of Nick Blackman and Simon Cox?

Stay tuned for more on this, Tilehurst Enders. After a busy week in the transfer market, the best could still be yet to come...