The jewel in Reading’s crown, full back Nicky Shorey, has postponed contract negotiations with the club until the summer prompting speculation that Shorey is waiting to see if Reading get relegated or not. Director of football at Reading Nick Hammond reckons that Shorey will sign eventually, telling the Reading Evening Post:
“In all honesty I think we will look again in the summer and see what the situation is then. He still has a year on his contract to run after this season.”
But when Hammond was asked whether Shorey was delaying a decision to see if Reading go down or not he became more guarded, saying:
“You’d need to speak to him in that respect.
“I think he’d already made the decision (about whether he wanted to sign a new deal) at the start of this season and there’s no reason why that has changed.
“The important thing now is that he performs well up until the summer and then we will speak again.”
But will Shorey, Reading’s best asset, want to extend his contract even if they stay up?