Opinion: Why 30-year-old should be open to Reading FC switch following Fulham departure | OneFootball

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Football League World

·30 September 2022

Opinion: Why 30-year-old should be open to Reading FC switch following Fulham departure

Article image:Opinion: Why 30-year-old should be open to Reading FC switch following Fulham departure

Former Fulham centre-back Michael Hector has been training with former club Reading and they are planning to engage with his agent regarding a potential contract, according to Paul Ince who spoke to the Reading Chronicle.

The 30-year-old has been without a club since he departed the Cottagers on the expiration of his contract in the summer – and he didn’t exactly have the chance to put himself in the shop window during the 2021/22 campaign – making just four league appearances.


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At this point, the defender may just be desperate to get back to playing again regardless of who he joins, but he should be excited at the potential opportunity to rejoin his former club.

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Article image:Opinion: Why 30-year-old should be open to Reading FC switch following Fulham departure

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Some would argue that his playing time could be limited, with Sam Hutchinson, Tom Holmes, Tom McIntyre, Naby Sarr, Scott Dann, Liam Moore, Amadou Mbengue and Andy Yiadom all able to play in central defence when all are fit.

However, Dann hasn’t been fit for much of his time at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, Moore isn’t even guaranteed to play even when he does return following a public fallout with the club in January, Mbengue may be required in central midfield at times and Yiadom is probably at his best when operating at wing-back.

That leaves Hutchinson, Holmes, McIntyre and Sarr as the main options in their back three – and the latter mainly operates as a left centre-back anyway so he might not affect Hector’s playing time too much – though he’s still a competitor for a spot in central defence.

The same applies with left-footed McIntyre and the former Scotland youth international is prone to sustaining injuries anyway, so he can’t be relied on to play 46 league games this season.

Hutchinson is another player that tends to pick up injuries and that’s why his game time needs to be managed, with Hector potentially able to operate in the centre of a back three in place of the former Sheffield Wednesday favourite.

He would also be a strong candidate to be a starter on the right-hand side ahead of Moore and Mbengue, though you have to wonder whether he will be a regular ahead of the promising Holmes.

Manager Ince is a man that seems to like experience though and considering the Jamaican has Premier League football on his CV, that’s something he has over Holmes who is yet to appear at the top level.

And there’s much more chance of him getting more regular game time in Berkshire this season than he did at Craven Cottage last term, though it’s .

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