Joseph Mendes: Reading FC Sign Le Havre Forward

The Royals have signed French forward Joseph Mendes for an undisclosed fee. The 25-year-old, who scored nine goals in 37 appearances last season as Le Havre narrowly missed out on promotion to Ligue 1, has agreed a two-year contract.

Manager Jaap Stam said...

"Joseph is the type of player we have been looking for and the sort of player we need in this team. He has good height, he is strong on the ball, he's quick and he's a goalscorer as well.

He can play in a central role as a striker or in a wider forward position, so he gives us good options. And I'm really pleased we have secured his signature."

What do we know about him?

Not much if we're honest. So we should all stay open minded and give him a chance.

What we do know, is that up to February this year his scoring record was pretty poor for a forward: 19 goals in 138 appearances. Something changed for him after that though, as he went on the best form of his life, scoring six goals in just 10 games.

According to InStat, that purple patch came mostly from right wing. The football analysis website also lists Celtic forward Callum McGregor and QPR forward Conor Washington as players with similar qualities.

It is noticeable that his touches of the ball come across the pitch so he clearly likes to roam. Has he been signed to replace Hal Robson-Kanu? Let us know your thoughts below.