Edwards arrives at the Madejski
DAVE EDWARDS says Reading’s ambition is what convinced him to leave Wolverhampton Wanderers after almost 10 years.
Wales international Edwards,
31, has been out of favour with the Midlands club this season following the arrival of new manager Nuno Espirito Santo and jumped at the chance to complete this £1 million deal.
“It is a big change for me personally and my family,” admitted the midfielder.
“I’ve been at Wolves for such a long time. I’m just so grateful that a club of Reading’s size have wanted to take me on a permanent deal.
“Hopefully I can repay them when I get playing.
“It has come around quite quickly.
“Decisions had to be made quite quickly but when you see the way that Reading played last year and how close they were to getting promoted, it was a no-brainer for me that this was a club that I was excited about joining.”
Edwards, who completed his move over the weekend, immediately links up with the Wales squad, looking to add to his 39 caps and help them qualify for next year’s World Cup.
And Jaap Stam is delighted to add the experienced midfielder to his squad.
“He’s a great player, he’s got a lot of experience, tactically he’s strong and he has enormous stamina as well,” said the Royals boss.
“We’ve got a number of young players in our squad but we need experienced heads out there too and Dave is another leader with the mentality we are looking for in our players.”
JORDAN OBITA has penned a new three-year contract with Reading.
Academy product Obita was entering the final year of his previous deal, but will now extend his stay through to 2020.
And captain Paul McShane has also extended his contract.
The 31-year-old centre-back has played a pivotal role since arriving from Hull City in 2015, making 71 appearances, and has added another year onto his deal which will now run until the summer of 2019.