Reading FC urged to fend off Harvey Knibbs transfer exit threat

Reading FC urged to fend off Harvey Knibbs transfer exit threat

As Reading begins their first season under their new ownership, there is a sense of enthusiasm at Select Car Leasing

Stadium.

The Royals haven’t had to go through a big fire sale of players with additional uncertainty over who they can and

cannot bring in, so the transfer window has been unusually quiet.

Reading supporters can be pleased with the summer transfer window thus far, even though they lost important

players like Michael Craig and Amadou Mbengue, and Tyler Bindon is also joining Nottingham Forest again.

Not only for the signing of Paudie O’Connor and the loan arrivals of the likes of Finley Burns and Matty Jacob, but

also for who they have been able to retain.

Key men such as goalkeeper Joel Pereria and midfielder Lewis Wing signed new three-year deals this summer, and

now the focus is on keeping top scorer Harvey Knibbs around.

That’s the view of FLW’s Reading fan pundit, Johnny Hunt, at least. But he does believe that there shouldn’t be any

real worry in doing so.

Reading fan pundit stresses the importance of Harvey Knibbs at the club

In 2024–2025, Harvey Knibbs scored in double figures again, recording a career-high 14 as Reading battled for a

spot in the top six until the very end.

Now that Lewis Wing and Joel Pereira have agreed to new deals with the team, Hunt told Football League World,

“the question mark is now on someone like Harvey Knibbs.”

Hunt, however, was audacious in his forecasts over whether the offensive midfielder would depart prior to the

transfer deadline of September 1st.

“We don’t want to sell him, we don’t need to sell him, and I’m sure he wants to stay,” he said.

“He’s a big part of the project at the club and is a big part of why the team works so well. There’s just so much he

offers to the team.

“In my opinion, Harvey Knibbs is the player that we cannot afford to let go of before the deadline.”

The midfield combination of Harvey Knibbs, Lewis Wing, and Charlie Savage was among the top middle trios in

League One the previous season, both under Ruben Selles and Noel Hunt. Together, they contributed 21 assists and

28 of Reading’s 68 goals.

He can undoubtedly play at a higher level, but he plays a significant part in this team and gets many goals from

midfield with the way he lines up with Wing and Savage.

“Let’s hope we hold onto him because he’s a good guy too.”

Reading in no rush to tie Harvey Knibbs down yet

In contrast to Wing, Harvey Knibbs has one year remaining on his current Reading deal, which he signed in the

summer of 2023, so Reading shouldn’t rush to extend him.

Despite drawing Championship teams this past January, the 26-year-old is not the subject of any serious transfer

rumours this summer, and he hasn’t shown any signs of wanting to go.

The concern would arise, though, if Knibbs maintained his amazing goal-scoring form for Reading the next season

and the Royals didn’t improve, since he would be free to go for a Championship team in 2026–2027 for no

compensation.

Therefore, Reading is not in a rush to sign Knibbs to a new contract just yet. However, in order to prevent losing one

of their greatest players for nothing at this time next year, they might still want to protect themselves, like they did

with Wing earlier in the summer.

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