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Danny Loader looked all set for a deadline-day move to Premier League side Wolves, but it wasn’t to be.
According to Sky Sports, Reading were reportedly ready to sell the youngster for a multi-million pound fee, and he’d even passed a medical and agreed personal terms ahead of the switch. However, the Royals changed their minds late in the day, meaning Loader will stay put and Wolves will go without him.
#WWFC’s move for Reading forward Danny Loader is OFF. Player had a medical and agreed terms with Wolves but I’m told Reading have pulled the plug at the last minute. The Meritan Shabani deal from Bayern to be confirmed after the Pyunik game. #DeadlineDay
— Anton Toloui (@SkyAnton) August 8, 2019
At the moment there’s been no explanation for the u-turn, although it could be related to the reported collapsed move for Chelsea wide man Kenedy. Courtney Friday claimed that the decision was made by owner Dai Yongge himself.
Regardless of the reason, Reading now have a player on their hands who’ll be disappointed to have seen a Premier League move fall through - and who is out of contract next summer.
Therefore, unless he agrees a new deal, he’ll leave Reading in the summer of 2020 for a level of compensation that will likely be less than what we would have got out of Wolverhampton Wanderers on deadline day. According to Joe Edwards of the Express and Star, who was writing when the move looked to be on, Loader isn’t likely to agree a contract extension.
Danny Loader is not willing to sign a new deal at Reading, and Wolves are keen to land the England U20 forward. Wolves also working on a deal for Meritan Shabani, an attacking midfielder from Bayern Munich - again, initially for Rob Edwards' U23s. #wwfc
— Joe Edwards (@JoeEdwards_Star) August 8, 2019
This season will likely see plenty of speculation over Loader’s future, as he’d already drawn interest from some of Europe’s top clubs this summer. Besides Wolves, that list of suitors is also thought to have included Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus and Borussia Monchengladbach.
On the flipside to all this, you can deduce that Reading are in a fairly strong position financially. Although the club’s recent spending splurge - which included permanent deals for George Puscas and Lucas Joao - will have set us back a fair bit, we evidently don’t need to compensate by rejecting a cash offer for Loader.
Instead, he’ll remain part of a squad that’s had 10 new players added to it this summer - most recently Ovie Ejaria. Last season’s loanee returned to Reading on a temporary deal on deadline day with a view to a permanent switch next year.