FORMER READING FC forward Yakou Meite reflected on his time at the club after ending his seven-year spell in the summer.
Meite became a fan favourite during his time in Berkshire and left the club to join Cardiff City on a free transfer after the Royals were relegated to League One.
The Ivorian, who joined on a free transfer from Paris Saint Germain in 2016, played a total of 165 games for Reading and netted 47 times.
Discussing with 90min about his time at the club, he said: “It’s a club that will stay in my heart because I pretty much developed there.
“I signed several contacts, I scored a lot of goals too and I had a great understanding with the fans.
“When you play at home and the fans have made a chant for you, you understand it and it’s a pleasure.
“It gives you an extra boost. It surprised me, it followed me for all my years at Reading and because of that, I felt very at home.”
Meite suffered with injury issues during his time with Reading, including an ACL injury which kept him out of action from June 2021 – January 2022.
He scored four goals in 27 Championship appearances as the Royals were relegated.
Meite was offered a new contract by the Royals, but instead opted to leave the club and join Cardiff.
He continued: “My time (at Reading) started well but then after it was a bit complicated for the club in terms of the direction. It didn’t put us in a good position at times unfortunately.
“You lose three, you lose six points. Then you’re around at the end of the campaign, there are some things you can’t control.
“We tried to give our maximum on the pitch, but unfortunately what happened outside the pitch couldn’t be helped.”
