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Yesterday, we wrote that - according to Sky Sports News - Reading had had a bid for Swansea City winger Modou Barrow. The fee was rumoured to be in the region of £1.25m.
Since then though, a few different reports have denied those claims. Firstly, the Reading Chronicle’s Courtney Friday said the Royals had “lost interest” in the Gambia player.
Nothing on player front so far. Told Reading have lost interest in Barrow now. Was really hoping they'd push that through. #readingfc
— Courtney Friday (@ChronCourtney) July 20, 2017
Wales Online today added more doubt to the mix, stating that the Swans turned down Reading’s bid, rather than accepting it as Sky claimed. However, the article also states that Paul Clement could be tempted to allow Barrow to depart - if the club can cover the £1.5m fee they paid to FK Ostersunds in 2014.
So, putting my GCSE Maths into good use, that’s... erm... £250,000 that Reading would need to find if they want to get their man.
Should Jaap Stam want to bring Barrow to Berkshire, what kind of player would he get?
It’s fair to say the 24-year-old Gambian international hasn’t been in the best form this season just gone, making just 19 appearances in South Wales before a struggle of a loan spell at Leeds United.
With only one goal to his name at the Liberty Stadium (which you can watch below at 1:30) Barrow isn’t quite the blazing hotshot many fans might have wanted to see at the Mad Stad, but his pace and potential are undoubted.
With an aging Garath McCleary, an oft-unspectacular Roy Beerens, the relative unknowns of Pelle Clement and Adrian Popa, and the injured Callum Harriott as the Royals’ only wingers, you can’t blame Jaap Stam for wanting to throw a bit of pace into the mix.