Reading have announced that defender Andre Garcia has joined Belgian side Club Brugge for an undisclosed fee. The 18-year-old has made 13 first team appearances for the Royals so far this season but only four of these have been starts.
What’s more, only one of them came in the league and that was all the way back in August. Jeriel Dorsett has been Reading’s first choice left back this campaign, and that doesn’t look as though it’s going to change anytime soon.
This kind of deal must be incredibly frustrating for fans of teams at this level. Similar to Yisa Alao’s move to Chelsea, to these huge clubs, these players are just another body.
These kinds of transfers are essentially zero risk investments for them. Whereas for the selling club, these players are some of their most prized assets.
I don’t think Garcia will be making an impact in the Club Brugge first team right away. A loan move for the second half of the season seeming sensible.
This isn’t the first time that a young left back has swapped Reading for a top European club. In 2021, Omar Richards made the move to Bayern Munich upon the expiry of his contract in Berkshire.
Garcia will be hoping to fair better than Richards has so far. After only one year with Germany’s top club, Richards was sold to Nottingham Forest and has since been loaned out three times.
He currently plies his trade for Rio Ave in the topflight of Portugal, although not as a regular starter.
Reading will have to continue their playoff charge without Garcia. Sat in 10th place at the moment, Leam Richardson’s side are only 8 points behind 6th place Huddersfield, with two games in hand on the West Yorkshire outfit.
With Jack Marriott firing in the goals and Lewis Wing as reliable as ever, could Reading do what they came so close to doing last year and finish in a playoff place? It is believed that the Royals will reinvest the money from Garcia’s sale into Colchester United winger Kyreece Lisbie.
