It's fair to say that Paolo Hurtado hasn't had the best of times at Reading. Having joined the club last summer, he's only managed five league appearances, supplemented by a sole outing in the league cup against Everton.
However, recent reports suggest that his time in Berkshire could be about to come to an end. According to Get Reading, the Royals would like to get the Peruvian off the books this summer, preferably on a permanent basis. To be honest, that's not surprising, considering how poorly the former Pacos Ferreira winger has adapted to English football.
Reports from overseas back that up. Hurtado's agent Elio Casareto spoke to Radio Ovation at the end of last week, and had this to say about his client...
"We are talking to Reading. We know that now the Dutchman Stam is in charge, but we don't know whether or not Hurtado will return to the club. The issue will be decided next week."
With those comments coming from Friday 1st July, you'd imagine that the issue has been decided. And, as Get Reading report, it's apparently been agreed that it's in everyone's interests to let Hurtado leave.
Where could he move to?
As we wrote a little while ago, there are several Portuguese teams interested in Hurtado. Those include Vitoria Guimarães, where he was on loan at the end of last season, and also Belenenses.
However, there could be another club in the running. This being Peruvian side Universitario de Deportes, who hope to pull off a major coup by bringing in Hurtado on loan. The Lima-based team have recently sold star player Raul Ruidiaz to Mexican team Morelia, freeing up cash to bring in a replacement.
According to El Bocon, Universitario de Deportes would make their move in August, when the transfer window reopens in Peru. They hope to keep Hurtado until December.
Would you be sad to see Hurtado leave? Have your say in the comments section below.
The quote from Elio Casareto was translated with the help of Google Translate, and so isn't a verbatim translation.