With the launch of the new kit now under 24 hours away, the club have let us know what names and numbers we can get on the back of our swanky new shirts by announcing the official squad numbers this morning.
Some players have switched from last season, the most high profile being Oliver Norwood moving from 6 to 16, the number he wears for Northern Ireland that was vacated by Paolo Hurtado, whose loan move to Vitoria Guimares is reportedly imminent. As a result, George Evans has moved from 4 to 6, giving us more evidence that's he basically a younger version of Norwood ;)
Meanwhile, Jake Cooper has switched from 35 to 3 (our new back-up left-back?!), and Yann Kermorgant, who wore number 29 last season, has taken number 18 which he also occupied at Charlton and Bournemouth.
As for the six new signings, Dutchmen Joey Van den Berg (4), Roy Beerens (7) and Danzell Gravenberch (28) have picked their new numbers, with John Swift taking 8, Joseph Mendes is our new number 9, and Anssi Jaakkola will wear 31 between the sticks.
A few youngsters have upgraded their numbers, with Dom Samuel now 14, Zak Jules is 22, Josh Barrett now has 29 and Tennai Watson takes Samuel's old number 30.
However, there is no place on the squad list for youngsters Tarique Fosu, Jack Stacey (both of whom have featured prominently in pre-season), Craig Tanner or Aaron Kuhl. This is perhaps worrying, but none of their numbers from last season have actually been taken yet apart from Kuhl's 28, which is now occupied by Danzell Gravenberch.
There are still a couple of vacant numbers - e.g 15, 17, 19 and 20 last worn by Anton Ferdinand, Lucas Piazon, Alex Fernandez and Ola John respectively. That would indicate a few more signings certainly on the way, including perhaps Rafael van der Vaart. But you would expect the Dutchman to take either 10, 11 or 23, all of which are currently being held by Deniss Rakels, Jordan Obita and Danny Williams...
Full Reading FC Squad List 2016-17
1 Jonathan Bond
2 Chris Gunter
3 Jake Cooper
4 Joey Van Den Berg
5 Paul McShane
6 George Evans
7 Roy Beerens
8 John Swift
9 Joseph Mendes
10 Deniss Rakels
11 Jordan Obita
12 Garath McCleary
13 Reading Fans
14 Dominic Samuel
16 Oliver Norwood
18 Yann Kermorgant
21 Stephen Quinn
22 Zak Jules
23 Danny Williams
26 Ali Al Habsi
28 Danzell Gravenberch
29 Josh Barrett
30 Tennai Watson
31 Anssi Jaakkola
38 Liam Kelly