A Walk Down Reading Transfer Departure Memory Lane: 2022/23

We’re onto the penultimate part of Alex’s mini series of player departures in recent years.

It’s the international break and not a huge amount of meaningful football is happening in the UK right now, so I’ve decided to take a walk down memory lane to check in on those who have left the club since the summer of 2019 and how our alumni are now doing.

Part four sees us cover last season, which feels like longer ago. Remember when we used to play in the Championship? A time before the Sell Before We Dai group was established? We even had catering staff at the training ground! Truly the glory days.

Find below yet another long list of movers and shakers. And I promise you, despite it being fairly recent history, there’s a few names in here that you will have forgotten about...

2022/23

Manager: Paul Ince (until newly appointed head of football operations Mark Bowen was able to get hold of Dai Yongge to get permission to remove him from the position), then Noel Hunt stepped in as interim manager

Club captain: Andy Yiadom

Player of the season: Tom Ince

Final league position: 22nd in the Championship, leading to relegation to League One (after having another, suspended, six-point deduction for breaking FFP rules activated)

Money made from player sales: 0 (Euros/Pounds/Crypto/anything)

Total players who left: 17 (including six loan deals ending)

Departures list

Michael Morrison: There’s nothing that I can say about “Morro” that wasn’t already aptly said already here. One of the very few transfer decisions that we got right as a club in the last few years, a true professional and leader for the side. He scored a couple of handy goals too.

Unfortunately, despite being offered an extension to his deal, he felt it was time to step down to a lower level at the end of his contract, and he was probably right. Though, I’d still have had him over Scott Dann any day of the year. It was a bit like losing a £1 coin and finding a penny.

Morrison joined Portsmouth on a one-year deal, playing 28 times and providing two assists in six months. Rather nicely, he departed Portsmouth in the January 2023 transfer window and completed the circle by rejoining his first team, Cambridge United.

And he´s still doing Morro things: ever-present in the side with 57 appearances, one goal and two assists. His most recent game for Cambridge was seeing Reading put four goals past them. You’d imagine that this is his last season before retirement, but let’s hope not.

Alen Halilović: The attacking midfielder/winger joined Reading the previous summer as a free transfer from Birmingham City, and he seemed like quite the coup at the time. A talented player just entering his prime years? Yes please! Though, it wasn’t without risk.

He began the season as a regular starter but then, after Paul Ince arrived, rarely featured at all. We were led to believe that this was due to injury, but in a parting message, he said that he wasn’t injured. No one can be sure exactly what happened there, but my gut feeling is that there is probably a reason he left Birmingham, and a reason why he is known as an enigma. The talent is there, but the willingness isn’t.

So, after only joining on a one-year deal and giving us 12 appearances, one goal and two assists, he departed the club and signed for native side Rijeka of Croatia. However, after 11 appearances and one goal, his contract was mutually terminated in January 2023 following six months at the club.

At the start of this season, Halilović joined Dutch side Fortuna Sittard, where he seems to have settled in well, with five goals and two assists in 28 games so far this season. Halilović has not appeared for the Croatian national side since 2019.

Brandon Barker: No, *you* forgot about Barker! OK, I admit it, I forgot about Barker. Arriving out of nowhere for no discernible reason, with constant uncertainty/scrutiny surrounding Paunović’s position of manager, the former teenage prodigy of Manchester City turned up on our doorstep for a three-month period after having his Rangers contract mutually terminated two weeks prior.

Was it worth it? Not even slightly. Four appearances from the winger brought us zero goals, zero assists and many more questions that could provoke an existential crisis if mused over for too long. Obviously his deal wasn’t extended because we were so skint that we couldn’t keep offering silly contracts to people, so Barker packed his things and off he went to Cyprus to join Neil Lennon’s Omonia.

However, Lennon was sacked soon after and Barker wasn’t able to impress the new manager, despite two goals and three assists in 25 appearances. Someone should have shown the guy Barker’s Reading stats – he was clearly in the form of his life.

Barker was without a club for a little while, but in January 2024 he joined League Two side Morecambe on a six-month deal until the end of the season. So far, he has only played twice. I’m not a betting man, but I think we all know what´s coming next for him.

Andy Rinomhota: Player of the season for the 2018/19 campagin, Rinomhota joined the academy after being poached from AFC Portchester. Rinomhota played 51 times at academy level, scoring two goals and making the breakthrough to the first team during the 2017/18 season, featuring twice.

For the next four seasons at Reading, he became a regular first-team midfielder, with four goals and seven assists in a massive 149 games. However, Rinomhota departed the club after helping to prevent us from relegation and joined league rivals Cardiff City. We made attempts to keep him, but potentially the money on offer from Cardiff was too much to turn down at £15,000 per week.

His first season in 2022/23 with Cardiff went well as a regular starter with 41 games. However, this season, he has fallen out of favour and only played seven times. So much so, Reading were rumoured to be exploring the possibility of signing him this January transfer window on loan, presumably offering to cover his wages with chocolate buttons.

Instead, Rinomhota joined HMS Sinking Ship Rotherham United on loan, while they quietly slip away from the Championship. He’s featured nine times for them so far. He finally broke into the Zimbabwe international team in 2023, playing one game so far. Despite having an up-and-down time of it since leaving, seeing him leave did hurt us…

Josh Laurent: …but this one hurt more. And only partly because of the story behind the below tweet. Stay classy, Josh. You’re better than trolling us.

Joking aside, Laurent has actively voiced support and concerns for Reading since departing us, and tweeted a classy departing message once his departure was confirmed. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Laurent came in as a free-signing box-to-box midfielder from League One Shrewsbury Town, and while we fought off competition from other Championship sides to bring him in, I don’t think any of us expected him to be quite as good as he was.

What. A. Player. 88 appearances in two seasons brought five goals and seven assists and so many memories. Much like Morrison, who was mentioned earlier in this article, he really was one of the few good transfer decisions made in recent times.

As his contract came to an end, it was rumoured that he could be persuaded to stay if Paul Ince, manager at the time, was to stay, as they seemed to develop a relationship. Whether that formed part of the decision to actually appoint Ince, we’ll never know, but appoint Ince we did and then Laurent had a better offer from league rivals Stoke City, and off he went. I can’t say I blame him, but it was hard to watch him leave.

He remains at Stoke, and despite having been hit with a few injuries in his time there, he has still delivered seven goals and five assists in 68 games across nearly two seasons, so is clearly a regular starter despite this mad rumour and the fact he was appointed club captain at Stoke this season.

However, with one year left on his contract and Stoke City threatening to go down as they swirl around the relegation drain of the Championship, you wouldn’t be surprised to see them accept an offer from a more upwardly mobile side in the league, maybe one of either Leicester City, Leeds United, Southampton or Ipswich Town if they aren’t promoted. He deserves a chance to crack into the Premier League. Good luck, Josh.

Ethan Bristow: If you see who follows Bristow, you’ll know why I had to put Bristow in here, otherwise I’d be having a full-on nasty cry reeling off these three names in a row. Ripping off the plaster might be the best way to do it but it still doesn’t stop it from being the most painful.

Anyway, Ethan Bristow. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the former academy graduate continues the trend of Reading giving away left-backs. 24 games in the under-21s with two goals and two assists indicated a promising future, and despite only making 11 appearances at first-team level, he did register one assist and it felt like the pathways were opening up for him to make the left-back spot his own.

However, he was instead released and quickly picked up by Tranmere Rovers in League Two, despite apparently having other offers at Championship and Premier League level. In his first season at Tranmere, he registered 51 appearances, one goal and two assists and caught the attention of MLS side Minnesota United and was purchased on a two-year deal in July 2023.

After 12 appearances, has been allowed out on a January 2024 loan to Stockport County until the end of the season, where has made nine appearances and provided one assist. Perhaps Minnesota see him as potential, rather than someone who can make an immediate impact? But it seems strange to loan him out one month before the start of the MLS season. In 2023 he also made his first international appearance for the national team of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

John Swift: John Swift is the literal visual embodiment of what six years can do to a player at Reading. Seriously, just look at the before and after pictures. Poor guy looks like he has had a truly horrible paper round. Still, what a baller he was.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Attacking midfielder Swift was picked up on a free transfer from Chelsea (as a note, it’s surely no coincidence how many of our top signings have been on free transfers prior to the transfer ban?). He scored on his debut for us and spent six years being either brilliant or injured. Swift managed 202 appearances (which is A LOT for a club that seems to constantly turn over players), provided us with 34 goals and 38 assists, and he was in the form of his life prior to leaving at the end of the 2021/22 season.

It’s hard to begrudge him the move, given the fiasco that we were and still are, and he even said himself that he was motivated to go to a team that could offer him a way out of the Championship. Fair enough really, he earned it.

Off to West Bromwich Albion he went, where he remains to this day. He continues to be the creative force that we all know and loved, giving the Midlands team 14 goals and 11 assists in 88 appearances as they continue their battle to achieve promotion.

Terell Thomas: Thomas has had something of a journeyman career. A former Arsenal academy prospect, the centre-back then joined Charlton Athletic, before having a few loan spells away from the club and then spent some time at Wigan Athletic, AFC Wimbledon and finally Crewe Alexandra.

He was released at the end of his deal and joined Reading in March 2022 as a free agent, on a deal until the end of the season, seemingly as cover for the recently loan-departed Liam Moore. However, he had an entirely forgettable spell at Reading, playing only twice, and was released at the end of his deal.

Thomas returned to Charlton, signing a one-season contract, which was extended by a year at the start of this season. For Charlton this season, he has featured 33 times, sometimes at left-back, and was also linked to Reading again in the January 2024 transfer window on a loan deal, though no move materialised.

Since 2022, Thomas has been a regular in the Saint Lucia international team and even scored his first goal for them in 2023.

Felipe Araruna: Araruna is another one who, like Adrian Popa and Dejan Tetek, I am not sure ever actually kicked a football for us. I’m partially convinced he was just a figment of our imagination, or some sort of quirky tax loophole.

The Brazilian arrived in January 2020, but certainly never felt like a good fit or purposeful signing for us. Araruna arrived as a versatile midfielder who could also play as a full-back, but the position he most often occupied was in the treatment room, seemingly permanently injured in one way or another.

We somehow managed to eke nine appearances out of the invisible man, who was released at the end of his deal. He’s not played football since and is another one who has disappeared into the wilderness since returning to his native Brazil. This only further intensifies the speculation that he is a figment of all of our imaginations.

Ørjan Nyland: Goalkeeper Nyland arrived at Reading in March 2022 on a deal until the end of the season, to provide competition for Luke Southwood, who had fallen out of favour with Paul Ince. Nyland had previously been with Bournemouth, but had his contract mutually terminated while he recovered from injury, having only played once during the season.

During Nyland’s time at Reading he played 10 times, conceding 15 goals and keeping one clean sheet. His deal wasn’t renewed, which was probably a mutually agreeable outcome for all parties. He was able to get some regular game time to keep his chances alive of staying with the Norwegian national team, and prevented his career stagnating further by getting himself in the shop window for any bigger clubs that might be interested in him.

And, indeed, when RB Leipzig´s number one Peter Gulasci picked up an injury, Nyland arrived in Germany on a nine-month contract to provide cover. He managed three appearances, conceding three goals and keeping one clean sheet. He also provided an assist for Christopher Nkunku (now at Chelsea), that allowed him to win the 2022/23 Bundesliga golden boot.

Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images

However, this didn’t translate into a permanent move. Nyland was released, and then snapped up by Spanish side Sevilla, where he has been first choice, featuring 33 times this season with four clean sheets and 22 conceded. Quite literally the definition of failing upwards since leaving Reading, really.

Nyland has continued to represent the Norway international side during all this time, having played earlier this year for them. He hasn’t provided an assist for Goalbot Haaland yet though, which is basically a criminal offence.

Marc McNulty: McNulty signed on a four-year deal from Coventry City for £1.2 million and, to put it bluntly, was a waste of everyone’s time, effort and money. He’d been bouncing around the Championship and League One for a few years, never really cutting the mustard anywhere.

He finally found a bit of form on loan in League Two with Coventry, scoring 28 in 52 appearances. Why we as a club decided that warranted a move back to a league he has historically struggled in, I’ll never know.

And struggle he did. The forward featured for us only 17 times, with one goal and one assist. He spent most of his time away from the club, with five different loan spells, which were all incredibly unproductive.

Finally, in the summer of 2022, we were able to release him off of the wage bill and he was delighted about this. And we were glad to see the back of him too. After being without a club for six months, he moved to Orange County SC in the American second division, playing 25 times and scoring three goals, providing four assists.

However, he was released after the year and, since February 2024, can be found at the brilliantly named Scottish League Two club The Spartans, where he has so far played five times and scored one goal.

He also made two appearances for the Scottish national side in 2019, led by former Royals manager Steve Clarke, while contracted to Reading but out on loan. However, he hasn’t played for them since.

Cesare Casadei: An out-of-the-blue loan signing, quite literally given that he came from Chelsea, young Italian midfielder Casadei arrived in January 2023’s transfer window on loan until the end of the season. He had previously been signed by Chelsea in the summer from Inter Milan’s youth team, and his first-ever senior game of professional football came as a Reading player, which is a nice moment of history.

Initially after arriving, he wasn’t really trusted by Paul Ince because he had the audacity to be young. Casadei did eventually fight his way into the team and was an exciting player to watch, though still understandably rough around the edges. We got 15 appearances and one goal out of him, before he went back to Chelsea.

He started this season on loan at promotion-chasing Leicester, and made a strong start for the league leaders, with 25 appearances delivering three goals and two assists. He was then recalled by Chelsea in January and has played three times for them since returning.

Casadei has not yet featured for Italy’s national side, but is certainly on the fringes of the action and surely it will only be a matter of time before he receives a call-up.

Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images

Abdul Rahman Baba: “The Baba Story” part two will not be like Game of Thrones, and the published works will be out on TTE’s website before the Netflix film is finished. However, like Game of Thrones, it will be epic and there will probably be dragons.

Unfortunately, when returning, Rahman wasn’t quite the same player that we had the first time around. Paul Ince apparently spent a lot of the summer trying to make the move happen, given our lack of obvious depth at left-back, but this time Baba just didn’t get into his groove and often looked like he was playing a different game to those around him.

His final spell was also notable for picking up injuries quite often. At the end of this disappointing return for the previous fan favourite, he was released from his Chelsea purgatory contract. He resigned with a previous loan team, Greek side PAOK, on a two-year deal, and has been a regular starter for the side with 34 appearances, five goals and three assists. It’s nice to see him enjoying his football again.

Jeff Hendrick: Irish international midfielder Jeff Hendrick established a career as a solid, if unspectacular, lower-Premier League/upper-Championship-level midfielder. He was signed by Newcastle United when they didn’t have money, and when they did, he oddly enough wasn’t required any more.

Hendrick found his way on loan to Reading for the season, much to fans’ anticipation, as he seemed like he would be a good signing for us with pedigree at this level. He was certainly a regular starter, with 46 appearances, four goals and one assist, but he was really just a bit… meh.

Aside from one game against Queens Park Rangers when he scored a couple of worldies, it was really difficult to define exactly what he did or offered to the side, though Ince relied on his experience because Hendrick’s aged started with a three. What that experienced offered remains a mystery.

He remains at Newcastle, presumably just running down his contract, but this season has been out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday, who, after having a shocker at the start of the Championship season, are starting to look like they might be equipped enough to stay up under Danny Röhl.

Hendrick has made 11 appearances so far, scoring one goal, which was a last-minute equaliser against Leicester City. He hasn’t featured since, due to picking up a knee injury.

He last featured for Ireland’s national team in 2023, so continues to play a small role at international level. His contract with Newcastle expires in the summer, and he looks set to move on, though it’s not clear where his next destination will be.

Tyrese Fornah: This always seemed like a strange signing to me – Nottingham Forest were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2021/22 season, but had basically no players available to them for the following season, yet they allowed one of their players to be loaned out. However, with the gap in quality between the Premier League and Championship, and given he is a young, inexperienced player, there were some mitigating factors.

During his time with us, Fornah played mostly in central midfield, but occasionally (and bafflingly) on the wing, and racked up 37 appearances, two goals and two assists. For a young player under the stewardship of Paul Ince, that wasn’t bad going at all. Overall, he was fine. Just fine.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

After returning to Nottingham Forest, he was moved on permanently to our League One rivals Derby County, where he’s played 21 times and provided one assist so far this season. In November 2023, he played his first international game for Sierra Leone.

Joe Lumley: A very Paul Ince-style signing: someone who was typically associated as being an-old school, stay-on-his-line, ‘block the shot and quickly get rid of it’, commanding goalkeeper. Lumley came in on loan from Middlesbrough and we didn’t expect much of him when he arrived. Indeed, I remember discussing him with a Middlesbrough-supporting friend of mine at the time of the move, and he kind of just grimaced.

And we didn’t really get much either, to be honest. I suspect his performance at Rotherham United still haunts him, as well as us. He seemed like a nice lad though, and there’s a lot to be said for that, given some of the characters who have been through our doors. All in all, he probably did slightly better than we expected he would, though mostly because the expectations were just so low. He was the undisputed number one for us, playing in 42 games, conceding 60 goals but keeping seven clean sheets.

After returning to Middlesbrough, he was then shipped to Southampton on a permanent transfer, signing a one-year deal. This seemed strange, as Southampton are a team that people expected to be challenging at the top of the Championship division (which they currently are), and with Russell Martin, a ball-playing manager, which seemed very much at odds with Lumley’s style of play.

However, it seems he has only arrived as back-up option to Gavin Bazunu as he has only featured four times this season (four goals conceded and two clean sheets) and largely spends his time sharing bench-warming duties with former Royal Alex McCarthy.

Mamadou Loum: Our final loan signing of the season, Loum arrived from FC Porto in Portugal as a rather handy-looking defensive midfielder and, also, a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion, an honour given to him by the President of Senegal Macky Sall following Senegal’s victory at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. That´s going to look pretty cool on your CV.

He featured pretty regularly for us, but never quite convinced across his 31 appearances with one goal and one assist. We had an option to sign him for €5 million at the end of his time with us included in the agreement. Lol. Those jokers in Portugal clearly have a sense of humour.

After returning to FC Porto, he was sent out on loan to Saudi Arabian side Al Raed where he has been a regular for the side, making 21 appearances so far this season.