by Mr Angry »
23 Dec 2010 12:18
It may be worth selling A Fed in January, then recalling Andersen, if this article is an indication of how things are going with contract negotiations between the club and A Fed....
Premier ambitions for in-form Federici
by Anthony Smith
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Wanted man: Reading may have to fight off approaches for Adam Federici in the January transfer window.
ADAM Federici has reaffirmed his desire to play in the Premier League while contract discussions with Reading rumble on.
The 25-year-old goalkeeper is in talks with the club over a bumper new deal as his current one is due to expire next summer.
But Federici’s future at Madejski Stadium has been thrown in doubt once again following renewed interest from a string of top-flight clubs.
Recent reports say both Liverpool and Fulham continue to track the Australian stopper, with North London Rivals Tottenham and Arsenal also showing interest a matter of days before the January transfer window opens.
Federici makes no secret of his ambition to play in the Premier League and, given the hardship he faced during the early part of his career, he would find it difficult to reject a move.
He said: “I’m not going to hide my ambition. I’ve come a long way to play in this country and I want to be at the highest level.
“We have a realistic chance of getting promoted this season and if I can do it with Reading that’s fantastic.
“Everyone wants to play Premier League football. It’s the biggest league in the world and the most watched. I’ve had my little taste of it and it’s fantastic to be involved in it.”
Federici, who was back-up to Mark Schwarzer at the World Cup last summer, could potentially leave Reading on a free transfer next June.
“I’m out of contract at the end of this season,” he explained. “We’ve been in discussions and I hope all goes well.
“I tend to just keep my head down and play. We’ll have to see what happens, but I want to stay. Hopefully, we’ll sort things out and it’s all positive.”
Federici showed his class again in last weekend's 2-1 victory at Derby County where his saves to deny Luke Moore and Kris Commons in particular were of the very highest quality.
They proved critical to the result as an 88th minute winner from Shane Long secured Royals' first win in seven league games. But a typically modest Federici played down the significance of his own role.
“It was a team effort and the lads did tremendously well,” he argued. “We all worked hard for each other and it was a good team performance.
“Our defence played well and it was great to see Shane get a couple which will be great for his confidence.
“There was some ice on the pitch and it was difficult for goalkeeping but you come to expect that. It was a great result for us and a much needed three points. We fought hard for it and deserved it in the end.
“I would have preferred a clean sheet but it wasn’t to be and I will take 2-1 every day of the week if it means three points.”
The victory also ended a run of five consecutive draws and Federici added: “We got rid of that little hoodoo. We needed that win, especially for everyone’s confidence and hopefully we can kick on now.
“I think we’re in a good position. We’ve been playing well without that bit of luck you need. Hopefully we can have our share of it now. But the Championship is so tight and if you win a couple of games you never know where you will be.”
And Federici also paid tribute to Royals’ travelling fans at Derby: “We heard about everyone being snowed in back home in Reading so how they made it up I’ll never know. It was a tremendous effort on their part to come and support us like that."
Reading face a hectic festive period with four games in nine days starting with the visit of Bristol City on Boxing Day (3pm ko).
Sounds very much as if Fed is suggesting quite strongly that unless we go up, he will go.
Can't help feeling a little disappointed as we did give him his opportunity in English football, and now it sounds as if he is perfectly happy to dump us to sit on a Premiership bench somewhere.....
