Official: Ovie Ejaria Joins Reading FC on Permanent Deal

After spending the past season and a half with Reading on loan, making 55 total appearances for the mid-table Championship side, 22-year-old England youth international midfielder Ovie Ejaria has today joined them on a permanent deal.

The fee, £3M guaranteed with a further half million in add-ons and a 20% sell-on fee, was agreed last summer as a purchase option but a soft embargo had been placed on Reading by the Football League due to concerns over their finances.

Earlier this week the embargo was lifted, allowing them to finalise their deal for Ejaria, whose early appearances at Anfield led to fan excitement but whose loan spells—at Sunderland, Rangers, and then Reading—haven’t seen him push on.

Still, Ejaria remains a promising young talent, and he should get plenty of opportunity to develop going into his second full season at Reading—and for Liverpool, that sell-on fee will help protect them in case he does make the breakthrough.

“Everybody at the club is delighted to have got this transfer,” said Reading’s Mark Bowen. “Ovie has shown everyone his exceptional quality [and] I’m sure all our supporters are excited to see him continue to impress as a Royal.”