South African news states that the Royals have a new 'keeper.
As we wrote a few days ago, Reading are tracking Finnish 'keeper Annsi Jaakkola (always awkward to spell, that one). The 29 year-old Jaakkola currently plays for Ajax Cape Town.
However, according to South African site KickOff.com, the deal is essentially complete. Jaakkola had agreed a year-long contract extension at the end of last month, but it appears that his club would rather receive a fee for him now than let him depart for nothing next year.
KickOff.com quote an unnamed source, who says:
"Everything happened very fast but yes, Anssi is gone and will be joining Reading. It obviously helped that Sander and Jaap played together for Holland.”
'Sander' is Sander Westerveld, Anssi Jaakkola's agent. Obviously we can't tell too much about that quote without knowing who said it but, if it is true, it would seem that Stam's reputation is already paying off in the transfer market.
As for the transfer's time frame, KickOff.com expect it to be finalised over the next week or so, with Jaakkola joining up with the Reading squad during the trip to the Netherlands.
We'll have more information as/if it comes out in the subsequent couple of days.