Jaap Stam wants a midfielder and a striker pronto and news has emerged of a deal for CA Colon’s Mauro Marconato.
The 21-year-old, marked down by Transfermarkt as a left winger, spent time on loan at Argentine top-flight club Patronato last season and appears to be looking for a new club with Reading Chronicle reckoning that he arrived in Berkshire last night.
A quick check on Instagram reveals that Marconato was in London earlier in August and our first question is whether a South American player with no international experience will get a work permit for a Championship team.
In fact, he didn’t really get much game time last season and is perhaps more of a signing for the Under-23 squad than the first-team goal getter Stam and Royals fans so desperately crave.
UPDATE: Chronicle have now reported that the player’s agent has dismissed ‘rumours that Macro Maconato [sic] is on the verge of a switch’. Those pesky rumours!
In Other News
Is Stephen Quinn’s time at the club nearing an end? We hope not but the Irish midfielder told reporters that he’s considering a loan move away from the Mad Stad to get first-team football.
Hopefully this is just a minor threat to the manager rather than any sign of an imminent exit, as Quinn has been on the injury comeback trail and perhaps just hasn’t been risked in the league while he finds full fitness.