{"id":238936,"date":"2025-07-05T02:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238936\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T02:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:06:13","slug":"everton-defender-reece-welch-targeted-for-reading-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/238936\/","title":{"rendered":"Everton defender Reece Welch targeted for Reading switch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/FEATURED-IMAGE-EXCLUSIVE-RIGHT-1140x641.jpg\" class=\"attachment-single-feature size-single-feature wp-post-image\" alt=\"Reece Welch, Reading\" layout=\"fill\"  style=\"object-position: 50% 50%\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(Credit: Getty)<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/94399bd7ab42abd455aa00aa2aebfd9d\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" alt=\"Pete O'Rourke, Transfer Correspondent\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>   <\/p>\n<p> Fri 4 July 2025 22:12, UK <\/p>\n<p>Everton defender Reece Welch is a target for Reading in a permanent deal in this summer\u2019s transfer window, sources have told <strong>Football Insider.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>England Under-20 international Welch is entering the final year of his contract at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/tag\/everton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Everton<\/a>, and Reading are eyeing a move for the centre-back to bolster their defensive options.<\/p>\n<p>He made his debut for the Merseyside club\u2019s first team in their 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Boreham Wood in 2022, coming off the bench for the final minute of the game.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old was an unused substitute as the Toffees won 1-0 at Newcastle United on the final day of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/tag\/premier-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a> season in May.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/David-Moyes-Everton-1024x576.png\" alt=\"David Moyes Everton\" class=\"wp-image-658540\" \/>David Moyes and Everton are set to part company with Welch (Credit Imago)<strong>Reading set sights on Everton defender Welch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Football Insider<\/strong> exclusively revealed last summer that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/reading-make-move-to-sign-evertons-reece-welch-sources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reading enquired about signing Welch<\/a>, and the Royals are once again interested in his services. <\/p>\n<p>Despite the severe financial challenges posed by former owner Dai Yongge, the Berkshire club finished seventh in League One last season, just three points adrift of the playoff places.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n<p>But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/tag\/reading\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reading<\/a> are now looking to progress under new owners, Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair, amid their renewed interest in Welch. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Reece-Welch-Everton-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Everton\" class=\"wp-image-574690\" \/>Welch is set to join Reading (Credit: Getty)<strong>Welch set to thrive in League One<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Football Insider verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After narrowly missing out on the playoffs last season, Reading will be eager to land a top-six spot in Noel Hunt\u2019s first full season in charge next term.<\/p>\n<tr>\n<td>League One table (6th-7th) 2024\/25<\/td>\n<td>Games played<\/td>\n<td>Goal difference<\/td>\n<td>Points<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6 Leyton Orient<\/td>\n<td>46<\/td>\n<td>24<\/td>\n<td>78<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7 <strong>Reading<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>46<\/td>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<td>75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Reading finished just outside the playoffs last term<\/p>\n<p>The addition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/tag\/reece-welch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Welch<\/a> will help the Royals in that quest, thanks to the experience he has earned in Premier League 2 throughout his time with the Everton academy.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the 21-year-old already boasts EFL nous, having spent the 2023\/24 season on loan with Gloucestershire outfit Forest Green in League Two, notching two assists in 17 fourth-tier outings.<\/p>\n<p>The Toffees starlet has proven that he is ready for the challenge of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footballinsider247.com\/tag\/league-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">League One<\/a> football, while a move to Reading should see him competing in the upper echelons of the third tier.<\/p>\n<p>Hunt\u2019s men need a new centre-back after losing New Zealand international Tyler Bindon to Nottingham Forest in the winter transfer window, but Welch\u2019s signature can fill that void for the Berkshire club.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Related Posts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Getty) Fri 4 July 2025 22:12, UK Everton defender Reece Welch is a target for Reading in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[11817,94,28606,92976,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-238936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-everton","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-reading","11":"tag-reece-welch","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114798185069182088","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}