READING manager Jose Gomes says that he expects the club to make one more signing before the close of the transfer window at 5pm today.
The Royals brought in three new players in a busy Tuesday evening with Brazilian goalkeeper Rafael, midfielder Pele and striker Lucas Joao joining the squad.
They also added the arrival of George Puscas from Inter Milan last night for what is believed to be a record fee for the club.
“One more player, which is a loan player. I think the deal is close and in a few hours we will know more,” said Reading boss Jose Gomes.
“The window is giving us what we need. In some moments is Spain (pre-season) I was really concerned about our situation because the players didn’t come.
“I’m pleased to have new signings, I feel we are stronger with these players at the club and it is giving us what we need. I’m happy with this and so are all of the Reading fans.
“We hope that the players can catch the ideas very quickly, the way they buy my ideas we will see.
“We need to be patient, we should start the pre-season now with all the squad, but instead we received the squad after the first game.
“We have a very busy schedule, eight games in August. It is good that two of the players (Joao and Pele) have Championship experience and that will be much better for them to catch hold of our ideas.”
Gomes also stated that he expects some senior players to leave the club before the end of the window, with the global market still open until Monday, September 2.
“We are more prepared in case we lose players, it’s not as much of an important thing for us,” continued Gomes.
“Until the close of the market, and the market in the rest of the world, everything can happen so we must be prepared because we are not in the best situation financially.
“With the embargo, we could only bring free or loan players, but things have changed which is good for us.
Despite the new signings, Gomes wants his team to stay humble and realistic with their ambitions for the upcoming season.
“We need to be humble and conscious that we need time to put everything in the right places and share our ideas.
“We cannot run away from our responsibilities and we must play to win in order to achieve a position that lets us fight for promotion.
Gomes reflected on Reading’s opening day defeat to Sheffield Wednesday as they prepare to face Hull City this Saturday in their first outing of the 2019/20 season.
“The intention with the movements of the players, sometimes they lacked the courage to play as they should and we needed something more to damage the defensive line of the opponent.
“I watched back the whole game, and one day later I watched again. I think they were not better than us, they just used our mistakes in the best way.
“We weren’t strong enough in our offensive dynamic and aggressivity.
“Hull have two fantastic wingers, score a lot of goals and are very dangerous in their moments. Their players are the same and their strongest points are the same as last season so we need to be careful.”
