“The quality to thrive” – Reading FC eyeing move for 28-year-old: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Reading, Birmingham City and Kaiserslautern are interested in a move for Naby Sarr this summer, as per Football Insider, with the centre back available on a free following the expiration of his deal at Huddersfield Town.

The 28-year-old was in and out of the Terriers side that made a surprise run to the Championship play-off final last season, and does have an impressive range of passing for his position.

The Royals and the Blues are both in something of a race against time to build a squad bulky enough to compete in the second tier next season.

The latter have recently brought in John Eustace to replace Lee Bowyer at the helm, while Paul Ince has been tasked with keeping Reading up again after doing so in the second half of 2021/22, when he took over from Veljko Paunovic.

We gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe that Sarr would be a smart addition for the Royals this summer…

Adam Jones

There does need to be a shake-up in central defence considering they had the joint-worst defensive record in the division last term.

Sarr is someone who can perhaps count himself unlucky not to be involved more last season and on a free, he could be a good asset to have for most Championship teams, let alone a side likely to be competing in the bottom half.

At 28, he’s coming into his peak and could be a good replacement for Liam Moore if the latter moves away, so they should be looking to do everything they can to get this agreement over the line.

They may have other areas they need to prioritise first, but the opportunity to recruit Sarr is one they shouldn’t be turning down if they can agree a deal.

Alfie Burns

This could be a really shrewd pick-up.

Sarr impressed at Huddersfield last season in the Championship.

He was Carlos Corberan’s fourth choice, but he still played a high number of minutes in the division and was having a particularly big impact towards the end of the season.

Firstly, Sarr is a good defender.

He’s got a mistake in him, but he’s also very happy with his back against the wall, heading and clearing anything that’s thrown into the penalty area.

One of the other biggest positives about signing someone like Sarr is his ability in the final third.

He’s a real presence from set pieces and, with the right delivery, he will score you a handful of goals every season.

Reading’s squad needs work and it needs players with Championship experience adding to it.

Sarr has that, whilst he’s also got the quality to thrive in the division.

As free agent centre backs go, he’s right up there with what’s available at the moment and Reading will be getting a player that does the basics relatively well if they complete his signing.

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Josh Cole

When you consider that Reading’s defensive displays left a lot to be desired last season, they will need to strengthen in this area of the pitch and thus Sarr could prove to be a good signing for them.

Particularly impressive during Huddersfield’s clashes with Luton Town and Middlesbrough last season, Sarr recorded WhoScored match ratings of 7.14 and 8.16 in these fixtures as he helped his side secure maximum points.

Although Sarr will need to work on his consistency next season, there is no reason why he cannot go on to become a key player for Reading.

If the Royals are able to get their recruitment spot on this summer, they might be able to achieve a relative amount of success during the opening stages of the 2022/23 campaign.