Tiago Ilori Leaves Reading

Just over five years after leaving, Tiago Ilori has signed for the club where he made his professional debut, Sporting Lisbon, in a deal thought to be worth more than £2 million for Reading.

The Portuguese club had come in for the defender early on in the January window but initially failed to meet the Royals’ valuation of a player they paid Liverpool £3.75 million for two years ago, a record transfer at the time for the club.

After signing Matt Miazga on loan from Chelsea, Jose Gomes still has a strong selection of centre-backs to choose from, alongside Liam Moore, John O’Shea, Paul McShane and academy duo Tom Holmes and Tom McIntyre.

Scoring once in the autumn win over Preston, Ilori made 56 Championship appearances for Reading including the 2016/17 play-off final defeat to Huddersfield. Opinions over his time in West Berkshire will likely go down as somewhat varied; Ilori showing himself to be a quick, technically capable defender if a little lightweight and vulnerable to mistakes while failing to stand out in a mentally vulnerable team.