Sport
Nelson Abbey and Tom Holmes have accepted offers, according to the Reading chief
Reading manager Ruben Selles says offers for defenders Tom Holmes and Nelson Abbey have been accepted by the troubled League One club.
Speculation about the future of 20-year-old Abbey and Holmes, 23, seeped out before Saturday’s scheduled home game with Port Vale.
It is understood to be a major reason for the latest fans’ protest that led to the abandonment of the match.
“The club have accepted two proposals for two of our players,” said Selles.
Holmes was left out of the Royals starting line-up, having indicated that he would prefer not to be picked, but Abbey did choose to play.
The game was then interrupted by the encroachment of fans on 16 minutes, making their latest protest at owner Dai Yongge, before eventually being abandoned.
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“The players are individual persons and different from one to the other,” Selles told BBC Radio Berkshire.
“Nelson wanted to carry on and Tom wanted to be waiting, which is something I respect. The situation with the club inside is not the optimum situation, so we decided to give some time to Tom and to go with Nelson in the line-up.
“The two offers have been accepted but that does not mean the transfers are going to happen, because it is up to the players to really decide if they want to do it.”
Selles only told about offers after being accepted
Promoted Premier League strugglers Luton Town – who were in the same division as Reading last season – have been strongly linked with the two players.
But Selles refused to confirm exactly which clubs were involved – and that chief executive Dayong Pang has so far handled the matter.
He said that he and head of football operations Mark Bowen were only consulted when the bids had been accepted.
“One is a Premier League club,” added the Spaniard. “But it is not only one Premier League club that have interest. There is interest from other clubs abroad. It would be dangerous to speculate.
“I have been informed about the deals but I was not involved at the very beginning.”
“It is an extraordinary situation but then my time at Reading has been a big learning for me,” added the former Southampton boss, who was appointed in June.
Reading, who were a Premier League club as recently as 2013, are in danger of a second successive relegation after 10 straight years in the Championship, having dropped back into the League One bottom four as the result of Saturday’s abandonment.
Following their relegation to the third tier some of the team’s most experienced players left, then the English Football League charged the club with failing to pay players on time and HM Revenue & Customs issued the Royals with a winding-up petition over unpaid tax bills.
Chinese owner Yongge has been majority shareholder of the Royals since 2017.
