Paul Ince makes bleak Reading FC contract admission on key players ahead of possible summer exodus

Reading manager Paul Ince has admitted he doesn’t know whether any of the eight players who started yesterday’s game against West Brom will be at the club beyond the summer with their respective deals expiring at the end of this term, speaking to Berkshire Live.

Despite having little to play for, Ince fielded a reasonably strong side against Steve Bruce’s men, with Orjan Nyland, Michael Morrison, Baba Rahman, Danny Drinkwater, Ovie Ejaria and Lucas Joao all appearing for the Royals.

Out of yesterday’s starting lineup, the latter two and centre-back Tom McIntyre are the only players who are contracted to the Berkshire outfit beyond the end of this term, with Drinkwater, Rahman and Tom Dele-Bashiru set to return to their parent clubs and the rest are out of contract.

Even their two most important players in John Swift and Andy Yiadom, both of whom were ruled out of this weekend’s tie with their respective injuries, are set to leave the Select Car Leasing Stadium for free in the summer with the club facing a mass exodus.

This means they face the possibility of needing to rebuild their squad within the business plan agreed with the EFL last November as part of their sanctions for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.

As part of this plan, they will need to stay within certain wage limits with any fee spent on a playing needing to be ratified by the governing body, not an ideal scenario for a club that will need to move quickly to secure their targets this summer.

This rebuild may be bigger than many thought, with Ince admitting that he doesn’t have any assurances that a single one of those eight starters put pen to paper on fresh terms in Berkshire.

He said: “It’s hard to see if any of the eight will be here next