Leeds are set to battle with Reading for Liverpool youngster Ovie Ejaria, according to Chronicle journalist Courtney Friday.
He claims that Reading are favourites to land the 21-year-old midfielder after Ejaria spent the second half of last season there on loan.
Ejaria made 16 appearances at Reading after cutting short a season-long at Rangers.
https://twitter.com/ChronCourtney/status/1140636715024973830
However, another Reading-based journalist, Jonathan Low, claimed, “Despite the reports going around, I understand there’s no progress in Reading bringing Ovie Ejaria back to the club.”
He went on to say that Reading wouldn’t be making any transfers until July.
Despite the reports going around, I understand there's no progress in #readingfc bringing Ovie Ejaria back to the club. Also told the club will be doing their business in July so not expecting anything transfer wise in the next couple of weeks
— Jonathan Low (@jonathanl50) June 17, 2019
OPINION
You can understand why Ejaria might want to go back to Reading after his two previous loan spells weren’t so successful. The first was at Sunderland in the 17/18 season when he was part of the side that got relegated into League One. He will have learned lessons at the Stadium of Light after growing up at Liverpool where winning is a way of life, but it can’t have been an easy ride. His next move, as a 20-year-old, took him to Rangers where he started his career north of the border well, before his form tailed off dramatically after a knee injury. He never recovered and he asked for his loan to be cut short in December. Liverpool then found him the Reading move and he won over the Royals fans with some impressive performances. In the game against West Brom he had the most touches (78), most dribbles completed (5), joint-most key passes (3) and joint-most interceptions (3). However, Reading have a soft transfer ban in place at the moment and need permission from the EFL to sign anyone new. That, along with the fact that they’re not going to do any business until July, could play into Leeds’ hands. One of the criticisms of Ejaria at Rangers was that he’s a luxury player who isn’t suited to tough competitions like the Premiership. He went some way towards proving his doubters wrong in the Championship with Reading and a step up to a side like Leeds, who will likely be battling for promotion again, would surely be a good career move. The chance to work under a manager like Marcelo Bielsa must also be a tempting one for Ejaria.