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Reading have confirmed the sale of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to Championship rivals Millwall, with the fee believed to be around £750,000.
After two seasons in West Berkshire, the Iceland international became one of the sacrifices necessary to keep the club’s wage bill down. He was always going to be a player that could command a reasonable fee while his departure shouldn’t affect the team too much.
In 55 games for the Royals (only 29 of which were league starts), Bodvarsson scored 16 times with seven of those coming in the first two months of last season. Outside of that burst, he has been impacted by injuries and constant rotation in and out the side.
It is hard to be delighted by this sale. Arguably the 27-year-old retained a little bit more value in him, especially given we paid up to double that when he signed from Wolves in 2017. Plus, he is an exceptionally hard worker on the pitch, seemingly a nice guy off it, and a relatively capable goalscorer.
On the other hand, Bodvarsson simply doesn’t fit Jose Gomes’ style. His technique and finishing ability have always been lacking and, as mentioned, the club really need the cash.
Is handing him over to a potential relegation battle rival a bad idea? Frankly, it’s a risk the club feel they need to take and if the money goes into us signing a better fit for the team, it’s hard to blame them.