Championship side Reading have agreed a £3.75m with Liverpool for Portuguese defender Tiago Ilori, putting an end to a 3-year stint at Anfield. The Reds have granted Reading permission to speak to the player and agree personal terms with the club and complete a medical. Reading sit third in the Championship table hoping to gain automatic promotion to the Premier League. Jaap Stam will be hoping that 23-year-old Ilori will bolster his sides chances of returning to England's top flight at the end of the season.
Merseyside Nightmare
Ilori completed a switch to Liverpool from Sporting Lisbon in 2013, joining now other Liverpool outcast Mamadou Sakho and Chelsea loanee Victor Moses in making deadline day moves to the club.
It was not to be for the former Sporting Lisbon youngster as he went only to only make 3 first team appearances throughout his time at Anfield. He had loan spells at Granada, Bourdeaux and Aston Villa before finally making his Liverpool debut in a FA Cup match against Exeter City this time last year. Despite Brendan Rodgers' sacking, Ilori still couldn't force his way into the starting line-up spending the first half of last season playing regularly for the U23 side. He joined Liverpool with a promising reputation and was expected to become a regular starter for the club in the future, but 3 years on it is clear it was never meant to be for the defender. Something that was clear even at the start of last season when it was revealed that there was a view to a permanent deal in his Aston Villa loan deal.
Promotion Hopefuls
Reading have enjoyed an impressive season so far in the Championship sitting in joint third place with Huddersfield, only 6 points behind second place Newcastle with a game in hand on both sides. Stam has identified Ilori as the man to fix his side's defence having conceded 32 goals in 24 games leaving them with only +4 goal difference; inferior compared to Newcastle's +28.
Ilori will be hoping to revive an underwhelming career since moving to England and take a temporary step down in divisions in the hope to return to the Premier League with Reading next season. It certainly looks like a coup for Reading, With Ilori previously impressing in loan moves at Granada and Bourdeaux, however his spell at Championship rivals Aston Villa was not so successful but the potential is certainly there. Now with only personal terms to discuss and a medical to undergo, Ilori looks set to end his disastrous spell on Merseyside.