Pelle Clement has become the latest player to exit Reading as Jose Gomes continues to trim his squad.
The Royals have around 30 senior players currently on the books but midfielder Clement has now departed to reunite with former boss Jaap Stam at Dutch side PEC Zwolle.
22-year-old Clement arrived at Reading on a three-year deal from Ajax in the summer of 2017 but only made 29 first-team appearances, scoring no goals.
His last game for the club was as a substitute during August’s 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Birmingham but the youngster has not started since Stam’s final game in charge in March.
Gomes slams players after 4-1 Swansea loss
Clement is the second man to leave the club in the past week, following on from Adrian Popa’s loan move to Bulgarian side Ludogorets.
And more departures are expected with loanee Josh Sims likely to return to parent club Southampton while Marc McNulty, Sam Baldock, David Meyler and Dave Edwards were among a host of senior players left out of the matchday squad for Tuesday’s defeat against Swansea.
“It’s normal that a club in the position that we are now is thinking about improving the squad,” said Gomes.
“But the number of players that we have in our squad is definitely very, very high.
“We must reduce the number of players and after try to bring some more players in that will help us be stronger.”
He added: “My idea, if we started now from zero, is two players per position. Maybe 16 very good players, completed with U23s and check that we have a shadow team of the same level to replace the players from the first team and reduce the number of players.
“In my opinion we have too many players.”
Reading head to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon (12.30pm) with Gomes expected to make changes following the thrashing against Swansea.
Chris Gunter is expected to return from injury while Liam Moore is also likely to return to the defence and Callum Harriott is pushing for a start after scoring on Tuesday.
