Reading are set to beat Cardiff City, Stoke City and Swansea City to the signing of Shrewsbury Town’s Josh Laurent according to a report from Berkshire Live.
Laurent has done a good job rebuilding his career from the bottom of the EFL. He came through the QPR academy and failed to make an appearance there before moving to Brentford where he also never played. He then went to Hartlepool United and played well enough to earn a move to Wigan Athletic but only made one league appearance for the Latics before moving on.
He is now at Shrewsbury and he has been impressive for them over the two years he has been at the club. He became notable for performing incredibly well in the FA Cup. In the Third Round in 2019, he earned a penalty against Stoke City then stepped up to score it himself. In the Fourth Round Replay in 2020, he was able to score against Premier League side Wolves.
There was interest from Reading and their rivals to sign him in January but this deal did not happen. Laurent’s contract though expired at the end of the month, meaning that he would be available on a free transfer to all the teams that were interested him back in the winter. And while the likes of Cardiff, Stoke and Swansea were all looking to sign Laurent, the 25-year-old midfielder will be heading to Reading. Royals head coach Mark Bowen knew Laurent back when they worked together in the QPR academy and that surely played a role in him heading to Berkshire.
