Reading’s 2023/24 Retained List In Full

The Royals have activated one-year options on five first-team players, but let four more leave on free transfers.

Some surprises, positives and question marks have emerged with the announcement of the Reading FC retained list for the end of the 2023/24 season.

Ruben Selles spoke of potential automatic extension options for a handful of players a few weeks ago, but fans perhaps weren’t expecting it to cover as many as six players. Leading that group is Femi Azeez, who signed his last contract back in the summer of 2022 and looked set to depart on a free, following interest from Championship side Plymouth Argyle in January.

Along with Michael Craig, Jeriel Dorsett, Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Joel Pereira, this means Reading have signed up five first-team players in one fell swoop which will, at the very least, go a long way to filling out next year’s squad. Azeez and Ehibhatiomhan are also Selles’ only senior options who can naturally play out wide in attack, an area in need of reinforcements as it is, but which would have presented a gaping hole without them.

Speaking of the flanks, the decision to let Clinton Mola and Matty Carson go has been met with a bit of surprise/criticism. For me, Carson is only a few months younger than Dorsett but a notable step down in terms of defensive quality and athleticism. If I were being harsh I’d say he’s a National League-level defender aside from his crossing ability, so is no great loss.

But Mola gradually impressed after joining from practically nowhere and played every league game in 2024. To see him leave points to either a disagreement over salary (feels unlikely), disagreement over playing time (also not sure about that) or that Reading have bigger plans in mind. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see a new full-back signed or an academy talent given a serious run very early in the summer.

If the full-back spots are to be occupied by Andy Yiadom, Dorsett and An Other then you’d expect that troop to be completed by Kelvin Abrefa signing new terms, which have been offered by the club.

Apparently without an extension option to his name, the 20-year-old has every right to demand a full first-team season to try and live up to his potential. You’d expect that to be agreed unless somewhere better can guarantee that, and given Yiadom’s age/injury record, it really should be on offer here.

Elsewhere it’s all as you’d expect. Tivonge Rushesha is in negotiations, having put his torrid long-term injury absence behind him with a solid year in the under-21s, and Jayden Wareham has had his deal automatically extended. Nesta-Guinness Walker and Sam Hutchinson, two players seemingly primed for a League One renaissance having managed to survive relegation with their reputations intact, have instead departed as relics of the old order.

Reading will announce the fate of the academy players’ contracts in due course, which should give us a decent idea who they rate to make a first-team run from the start of pre-season.