ROYALS’ RECORD SIGNING PUSCAS ON THE MOVE

STRIKER George Puscas is set to complete a permanent move away from Reading FC after he helped Genoa secure promotion to Serie A.

The Italian club have an obligation to purchase the Romanian forward for a fee believed to be around €4m after they won their place back in the Italian top flight.

Puscas joined Reading in the summer of 2019 for a club record fee of €8 million euros plus €2 million in bonuses, but has failed to live up to his price tag.

After a promising debut season that saw him net 12 Championship goals, Puscas struggled to repeat that feat and only scored four times in the 2020/21 campaign and notched one goal in 25 games in 2021/22.

He spent the second-half of the 2021/22 campaign on loan with Italian side Pisa who had an obligation to complete a permanent transfer if they were promoted.

They missed out in the play-offs. Therefore, Puscas made another loan move, this time to Genoa, where he scored four goals in the Serie B, securing a second place finish only behind league champions Frosinone.

Reading, who have been under a transfer embargo for the last two seasons and have been deducted six points by the EFL for two consecutive campaigns have just suffered relegation to League One.

The Royals will be playing in the English third tier for the first time in more than two decades and in need of raising cash to help solve their financial issues, with Puscas’ impending sale likely to help improve the situation.

Reading’s squad is likely to go under significant change throughout the summer with fellow forwards Lucas Joao and Yakou Meite both coming to the end of their current contracts and unlikely to extend their stays in Berkshire.

The club also currently has six players on loan who will return to their parent clubs at the end of the season.