David Meyler has put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Championship club Reading after recently leaving Hull City.
The Irish midfielder enjoyed two promotions with Hull and also picked up an FA Cup runners up medal during his time at the club but the relationship had soured recently with Meyler voicing his disappointment at the way in which the club had handled his departure.
“When it came time to my contract extension, the club chose not to give me the contract that I was on,” the 29-year-old said prior to Ireland’s friendly win over the USA last week.
“They wanted to negotiate a new contract. The manner in which it was dealt with was disappointing. I felt that with my service there, the time and what I had achieved there – the club talked about respect but I thought I probably wasn’t shown the respect that I deserved.
“I found out my contract hadn’t been extended through the press officer, which probably isn’t ideal. Did I think too much or did I think too little about it? I don’t know. But once I came around I probably realised: ‘I’ve been here too long, I’ve achieved all that I can; it’s probably gotten stale’.”
The Corkman has now confirmed the switch and will link up with fellow Irish players Paul McShane and Liam Kelly.
John O’Shea has also been linked to Reading after his spell with Sunderland came to an end.
Reading manager Paul Clement – who recently took over the post after the sacking of Jaap Stam – said: "I am very happy to welcome David to the club as our second signing of the summer. He comes here with a lot of experience at this level but also the level above and with his ability and his leadership qualities, David is going to add a lot to our squad.
“At the end of last season, I felt it was important to bring in a player of David’s profile. And when I met with him, I got a real sense of his ambition to play at the highest level again. And, together, we’ll be fighting to push this club forward.”
In other news, former St Patrick's Athletic player Chris Forrester has signed for Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen after he was recently transfer-listed by Peterborough.
The 25-year-old had been placed on the transfer list by Posh manager Steve Evans at the end of the campaign and has now signed a three-year deal with the Scottish club.
“Chris is a player who has always caught my eye,” Dons manager Derek McInnes told the Aberdeen website.
“He can play in a variety of positions, but he handles the ball extremely well and he will bring us flexibility in the midfield area.
“We’ve been aware of him for a while and hopefully he sees Aberdeen as an opportunity to give impetus to his career.”
Forrester received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad in March 2016 for the games with Switzerland and Slovakia, however is yet to be capped.
He impressed during his time in the Airtricity League with St Pat’s and Bohemians before moving to England in 2015 where he would go on to captain Peterborough on a number of occasions, including in an FA Cup tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
