FORMER READING FC captain Liam Moore revealed all about his time at the club and on his failed big money move to Brighton.
The centre-back joined Reading from Leicester City in 2016 and played more than 230 games over seven seasons in Berkshire.
Moore spoke on the Ballers Mindset Podcast about his move to Reading from his boyhood club Leicester:
“I signed a contract (at Leicester) that didn’t go through in the end,” said Moore.
“They wanted me to stay and go out on loan and mature and learn the game. But I wanted to have control of where I went.
“I didn’t feel comfortable that I had a clear path to get where I wanted to at Leicester.
“That move to Reading was perfect. There were some incredible highs and some really bad lows.
“It was one of the biggest and proudest moments of my career (captaining Reading). I had captained pretty much every age group at Leicester so I had set my heart and mind on being a captain.”
During his time with Reading, Moore was heavily linked with a transfer to Premier League Brighton, but the move was eventually cancelled by Dai Yongge who was determined to hold on to the defender.
He continued: “When I was at Reading, I was subject to three or four bids from Brighton.
“Their bid went up to £15 million. £10 million plus add ons but the add ons were very easy to get to.
“That’s a lot of money for a Championship centre half, but that’s what someone was prepared to pay at the time.
“It was frustrating because I was told I could go, but then it got u-turned by the owner who didn’t want me to go.
“There was a period where I had a major dip off. I worked so hard to get that move and it didn’t happen.
“The conversation (with the owner) went ‘no matter how much they bid, you’re not going.’
“I ended up signing a contract (with Reading) that was great for my family.
“Looking back, it was a period of time that I dropped off and I always wanted to achieve and move forward, but felt stagnant at that point.”
