Towards the end of the summer transfer window, Inter’s George Puscas looked to be the subject of a tug of war between Championship clubs.
Teams like Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Leeds United and Reading were all reportedly interested, and it’s the Royals who eventually walked away victorious, signing the 23-year-old for around £7m on a five-year contract.
The striker has started his time at Madejski strongly, scoring three goals in his first six games, and showcased why Marcelo Bielsa wanted him at Elland Road too.
Leeds were strongly linked with him, but it was their dillydallying that caused the transfer to fall through, according to BZI in Romania.
The website explain Bielsa was keeping an eye on Puscas over the summer, and sent scouts to see him feature in the ICC friendly fixture between Tottenham and Inter, but Antonio Conte’s reluctance to play the young forward only saw him come on in the 97th minute.
They report Leeds then delayed the negotiations with the Serie A side, which led to him signing for Reading instead, much to the ‘dissatisfaction’ of the Argentine manager, who likes having a player like Puscas leading his line.
The reasoning behind this is the fact Gabriel Batistuta used to be his favourite forward, while he heavily relied on Fernando Llorente at Athletic Bilbao.
He also got the best out of André-Pierre Gignac at Marseille during his stint there.
One club’s failure is another one’s gain, and Reading seem to already be reaping the benefits of a hefty, but perhaps entirely worthwhile, expenditure.
