According to recent reports, Crystal Palace have offered a three-year deal to former Reading forward Danny Loader, who has been attracting interest from the likes of Leeds United, Swansea City and Portuguese side Vitoria SC.
According to reports in the Daily Mail, Reading were ‘forced to withdraw’ their contract offer to the 19-year-old forward due to the financial impact that the viral pandemic has had on football clubs across the country – meaning Loader is now a free agent.
The report goes on to state that Portuguese side Vitoria SC – who signed Marcus Edwards from Spurs last summer – are extremely interested in the striker, while Swansea and Leeds also planning a move.
However, Palace are reported to be one step ahead of their rivals to sign the player, with Sky Sports claiming that the club has offered Loader a three-year deal (Live blog, 16:09, 02/07/20).
TIF Thoughts…
Having graduated through the Reading academy, Loader made his Championship debut back as an 18-year-old back in November 2018.
And, while he has not exactly been a first-team regular since then, he has still gone on to make 35 first-team appearances across all competitions for the Royals, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
However, in the Championship this season, the 19-year-old had featured just seven times – only one of which was a start – playing a total of 108 minutes, registering an average of 0.3 shots and 0.1 key passes per game.
Despite this lack of first-team game time, the report by the Daily Mail brandished Loader as having been one of Reading’s ‘prized assets’ – which is likely something to do with the promise that the 19-year-old had shown at youth level, scoring 10 goals in 18 appearances for Reading U18s, as well as 19 goals in 38 appearances for the U23s.
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As such, should Palace be successful in their reported attempts to sign Loader, it would seem that the striker may still have a little bit of developing to do until he is able to have an impact in the first team, however, judging from his success at U23 level – despite being just 19 – it would seem that his required development may not take long at all.