3 players who could replace John Swift at Reading FC

Reading face an interesting summer as they look to rebuild a squad capable of avoiding relegation from the Championship on a tight budget for the upcoming season under Paul Ince. 

That task is made harder by certain restrictions being placed on what Reading are allowed to spend on wages and transfer fees for incoming players.

With John Swift one of the players moving on this summer after failing to agree terms on a new contract, Reading are in a weak position going into the summer.

However, they have utilised the loan market incredibly well, especially last season, with the likes of Tom Ince making a huge impact in their fight for survival.

In addition, there’s plenty of quality being released from rival clubs that Reading could pick from as the free agent market opens up towards the end of the month.

With Ince now confirmed as manager and Swift’s move to West Brom confirmed, it would be a surprise if the club haven’t already started planning for life without their talisman.

With that in mind, we take a look a three players Reading could bring in to replace their former number ten.

Korey Smith

Paul Ince deployed Josh Laurent as a makeshift number ten towards the latter end of the season and flourished in the role.

He didn’t produce the same creative numbers as Swift, but was hard working and got himself into the right positions when needed whilst allowing Reading to remain defensively organised when out of possession.

One player that could come in and do a similar job is Korey Smith. He’s played in a number of positions for Swansea this season and could easily be the ideal answer for Swift’s replacement. If he can recapture the form he showed at Bristol City, this could be a very smart pick up for the Royals.

Romal