Reading FC's Danny Williams Hungry For Premier League Step-Up

In an interview with NBC Sports, Reading's Danny Williams has made clear his desire to test himself in the Premier League, but added that he remains focused on performing well with the Royals in the season ahead.

With just 12 months to run on the four-year deal Anton Zingarevich signed off for the German-born central midfielder, it appears that only promotion would be enough to keep the American on the club's books.

"When I first came here to England I said I wanted to help Reading get back to the Premier League, we missed the playoffs in the first year by one goal and I was in form back then and then I had a knee injury so I missed the last three or four games of that season."
"The last few seasons we’ve failed with that ambition but I’ve always said it to everybody, my ambition is to play at the highest level in the world. I was fortunate enough to experience the Bundesliga which is a great division to play but the Premier League, which kid doesn’t want to play in the Prem, you know?
"I would be lying if I say that I want to play in the Championship all the time.
"I’m too ambitious for that."

"I’m hungry for more because I am not playing at the highest level… yet," [Williams said, with a smile on his face.]
"I’m happy with the education I had in Germany because that helped me a lot. Germans are always good technically and tactically. That has helped me a lot. So do growing up playing with players who are now in the Champions League. That’s a good thing. I can sit here and talk about them and see them playing in the Champions League… but I don’t play there. So, it’s about me now and what I want to do for myself.
"I am ambitious enough to get even better, to stay hungry and to move higher up. That’s what I’m aiming for at the moment. Some players do their head in because they look too much at what their friends are doing and saying ‘why is he there and what is it not me?’ I am happy with my choices I made.
"I love it in England. I am fortunate enough to live in London at the moment. I am settled here now and I am just looking forward to the season."

Missing out on the United States' Copa America squad no doubt pained Williams, who perhaps saw it as a decisive moment in whether second-tier football can satisfy his hopes of appearing for Jurgen Klinsmann's side.

"It obviously kills you when you are not involved [in major tournaments]."
"It kills you. In 2014 I missed the World Cup due to a knee injury and then in 2016, I would say I did enough to maybe be selected and be in the squad. Like I’ve always said, the Championship is not a bad league. It is a really, really tough. I played a lot of games and was in really good shape and I felt like I could really help the team.
"I was a bit sad that I didn’t get a chance to help the team but that’s the decision of other people and it is not in my hands. That’s why I say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. There is 2018 around the corner anyways, so I just have to stay healthy and look to get my spot with the national team."

For the full interview follow this link, as Danny talks about his role in the team and his career so far, and quite frankly I haven't the time to copy and paste it all.

What do you make of the comments? Expect to see him around the Madesjki Stadium for much longer? Comment below.