I got a haircut on Monday lunchtime. (Anyone who saw me on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur game will know that a trim was more than a tad overdue.) I had a different barber to usual this time - no problem though as they’re always reliable in this particular establishment.
Part-way through the haircut however, I wondered to myself: “This is all taking a bit too long, isn’t it?” There was nothing obviously wrong with anything my barber had done, but the other barber to my left saw to two customers in the time I was sitting there. I was on my hour-long lunch break, so I was beginning to wonder if my haircut would even get done in time at all.
Eventually he was finished and, fortunately, he did a top job. Though it was a bit annoying that he’d taken longer than I expected and I’d used up more of my lunch break than I’d anticipated, I’m glad he didn’t rush things.
After all, the trim you end up with at the conclusion of your haircut is the most important bit. The time taken is a bonus.
If you hadn’t worked it out by now, that little parable (a true, albeit mundane, story) is in here as the start of this article because it also represents how I feel about Reading’s summer transfer window.
In both cases we’re talking about a process that took/has taken a unexpectedly long amount of time. Accordingly, that’s led to understandable frustration among me/Reading fans.
In both cases there’s also no shortage of anxiety relating to the importance of getting things right at the end of that process. Few things are more damaging for a club’s prospects in any given season than a bad summer transfer window; few things are more crushing for your self-esteem than a really bad haircut.
(Believe me I know: just over a decade ago I unfortunately ended up a barber who interpreted “I’d just like a bit taken off” as giving me a military-style buzzcut, which was... very much not what I wanted.)
And, also in both cases, the attitude you take when sitting in the barber’s chair - or awaiting new transfers - should be the same. Let me explain.
Reading’s frustratingly slow summer
We’re approaching two months since the summer 2025 transfer window initially opened. During that time Reading have agreed new deals with the vast majority of the 22 out-of-contract players offered terms and brought in seven signings: three permanents (Paudie O’Connor, Jack Stevens, Daniel Kyerewaa and Liam Fraser) and three loans (Matty Jacob, Finley Burns and Mark O’Mahony).
However, in the final month and a bit, Reading still have a significant amount of their recruitment to do.
Even with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan agreeing a new two-year deal on Thursday, the Royals could do with one or two wingers, at least one centre-forward (ideally a starter) and a centre-back. Those aren’t just finishing touches, the cherries on top of the cake: the outstanding four or five signings would constitute around 40% of Reading’s entire summer recruitment.
The extent of that outstanding business at this stage of the window (particularly regarding forwards) and the general slow pace of Reading’s summer 2025 recruitment have left some fans on social media frustrated. And there’s nothing wrong with that viewpoint: it’s perfectly reasonable to point out that getting business done sooner rather than later is a good thing to aim for, not least because it allows new players time to get settled before the start of the season.
And, really, I don’t think anyone actually seriously disagrees on the fundamental points. Reading don’t have enough attacking quality in at the moment, it would have been better for such signings to come in a lot earlier in the summer, and the Royals shouldn’t unreasonably break the bank on any arrivals.
The real split in this discourse though, as I see it, is how it all gets framed. While some will see slow transfer progress as inherently and primarily a bad thing, I don’t think that’s necessarily the full truth.
Patience can be a virtue
Football transfer markets are a strange phenomenon. They’re not akin to someone going into a supermarket and unilaterally working through a shopping list; given that the circumstances of every potential signing and every club are always in flux, the transfer market overall is chaos, constantly throwing up new threats and opportunities. The transfer market isn’t a river that flows swift and sure in one direction, it’s an ocean in a storm.
Rob Couhig’s viewpoint, as he relayed recently to the Reading Chronicle, is that opportunities to bring in top talent pop up at different points of the summer:
“If you look at it, when are the best players available? Right away, right now and then right before the end of August. We will be poised at each of those times.”
Considering he’s an owner with experience of multiple transfer windows during his time at Wycombe Wanderers, his perspective has some weight and is worth listening to (although it’s still to be seen how correct his approach will end up being).
If opportunities to bring in quality players do open up in the coming weeks - and they’re taken advantage of - Reading will have been right to keep their powder dry. There’s only so much money available this summer (Couhig and co are right to not go on an extravagant spending spree), as is also the case for loan slots and Elite Significant Contribution exemptions for overseas players needing a visa (one of Reading’s two ESCs has now been used up on Kyerewaa).
Reading could well have brought in more players earlier, but they wouldn’t necessarily have proven to be worthwhile signings over the coming months and years. As Noel Hunt said recently, some new players have been lined up to come in, only for them to then try to renegotiate terms at the 11th hour.
“We’ve had a couple of boys through the door who have agreed to sign over the last few weeks and because they see the training ground and the stadium, they want more money.
“That’s not what we’re about, right now that’s not what we’re about. We want them to come here and buy into what we’re trying to achieve.”
Reading could have acquiesced, yes, but would that really have been the right way to build a tight-knit squad with the right attitude? Players are well within their rights to push for the best contract they can get, but from the club’s point of view, financial discipline is vital, even if that’s to the cost of relatively straightforward, speedy recruitment.
So while waiting for new signings absolutely is frustrating, patience can also be a virtue. Really though we’ll only know for sure how much of a virtue it’s been for Reading on September 1 when the window slams shut.
At the end of the day, that’s the timeline Reading must work towards. It’s not about getting in X number of players by the end of June, or by the end of July, but by the end of August.
That’s when we’ll be able to fully, fairly critique the Royals’ summer recruitment. Yes, the speed of recruitment should be included in that critique: it could well up being the case that the club ultimately left too much business until the closing weeks of the window and ran out of time. It might not though. Either way, the most important thing is the overall quality of the squad Reading are left with for 2025/26.
Let’s just hope Reading end up with a haircut they’re happy with.