Reading FC CEO Joe Jacobson has opened up on the current situation with star player Harvey Knibbs amid transfer speculation.
Knibbs was set to make a move to Championship side Charlton Athletic for a reported £1.8million, but the deal broke down at the final stages of negotiations.
Speaking at a Q&A session at the Purple Turtle, Jacobson said: “It’s an ever changing situation. When the management have created great assets for the football club, of course other teams are going to be interested.
“Harvey has had 37 or 38 goal involvements in the last two years, of course he’s going to have a lot of interest from higher divisions.
“Where it’s at at the minute, we’re not quite sure but hopefully he is our player because we value him very, very highly.”
Jacobson also admitted that the club has a contingency plan in place in case Knibbs does leave this transfer window.
He added: “But if he is not then we’ve got a contingency plan in place ready to go if needed. Things like that can always change day by day depending on which agent or CEO you talk to.”
Knibbs did not play a single minute of pre-season for the Royals this summer, missing the early parts of pre-season with an injury before he was withdrawn from the squad to play against Portsmouth to the advancing negotiations over his transfer to Charlton.
However, manager Noel Hunt has revealed that he will speak to the player ahead of Reading’s opening game at Lincoln to see whether there is a possibility of him being included in the squad for the season opener.
