Reading FC eyeing Fulham striker but face hurdles | OneFootball

Reading's return to the third-tier of English football for the first time in over 20 years has been anything but a seamless transition off the pitch thus far.

Their problems behind the scenes have proved detrimental over the last few years with a six-point deduction eventually leading to their relegation from the Championship last term, and such issues are persisting as they attempt to build a squad capable of getting out of League One at the first time of asking.

Any such attempt is being directed by new manager Ruben Selles, who was at Southampton's helm last term, but his bid to revamp the side in his ways and bring in the players he wants has been dealt with recent blows.

As per the Reading Chronicle, the Berkshire outfit have once again failed to pay their tax bill on time to HRMC, meaning that they are now prohibited from signing any new players until the situation is rectified accordingly.

Rather bleakly, it has also been reported that this update could well lead to the de-registration of already-signed players, with Reading having brought in the likes of Charlie Savage, Sam Smith, Lewis Wing and Harvey Knibbs, while there is genuine "concern" that Selles could even walk away after only a matter of weeks in the job.

Of course, their latest transfer embargo means that any such prospective deals may well fall through now as they are presently unable to get them over the line, and that is applicable to their loan pursuit of Fulham's Jay Stansfield, which is on hold according to Darren Witcoop.

Would Jay Stansfield be a good signing for Reading if their transfer embargo is lifted?

It would be a real cause of frustration for everyone connected with Reading if the current situation led to them missing out on Stansfield's signature, given just how promising the young striker appeared at times while on loan with League One rivals Exeter City last time out.

A multidimensional frontman, Stansfield scored nine times and assisted a further seven in his first proper professional campaign, which showed how well-rounded his game is at such a young age.

Still only 20, the forward is capable of making a clear impact at this level and you would only expect him to improve with another year of football under his belt, having already learned the trials and tribulations down in Devon.

As such, he is a player who will doubtlessly attract plenty of interest this summer, and according to DevonLive, he had even appeared on Championship radars last year before making the move to Exeter, so you can only imagine what sort of teams may be looking to add him to their ranks now.

It very much mirrors the situation that occurred earlier this month, with a previous Witcoop report detailing that Mark Harris and Sean Clare had both been lined up for moves to the club, although the inability to finalise those deals saw Reading miss out.

Frustratingly, Harris and Clare subsequently went on to join Oxford United and Charlton Athletic respectively, two clubs that Reading will be wanting to challenge across the upcoming campaign.