League One newcomers Reading have taken former Birmingham City centre-back Harlee Dean on trial, according to Reading Today.
The 31-year-old, who is a free agent having recently departed the Blues, has been training with the Royals over the past couple of days, with new boss Rubén Sellés keen to offer a contract to the defender after impressing on trial.
A defender who also appeared for Brentford in the second tier in which he made 249 total appearances for the now Premier League club, Dean went on to appear 200 times in all competitions at St Andrew’s, scoring nine goals in six years at the Blues.
The Basingstoke-born centre-half was also voted as Birmingham’s Supporters’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year for the 2020/21 season, in which the Blues finished the campaign 18th in the Championship.
Dean went on to appear 16 times for Birmingham in the 22/23 campaign, scoring once as the club finished 17th in the Championship after winning 14 matches and picking up 53 points.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Understand former Birmingham City centre-back Harlee Dean is on trial at Reading.
The 31-year-old has accrued 313 Championship appearances for Brentford and Blues. #readingfchttps://t.co/hD1V6pnZ7N
— Ji-Min Lee (@JmlJourno) July 20, 2023
Reading rebuild
Reading are gearing up ahead of a season in League One following relegation from the Championship in the previous campaign, finishing 22nd in the league and taking the drop to the third tier alongside Wigan Athletic and Blackpool.
The Royals have started work in a bid to return to the Championship at the first time of asking, firstly appointing new boss Rubén Sellés. The Spaniard was unable to save Southampton from relegation from the Premier League last season after being placed in charge of the Saints until the end of the season following the sacking of Nathan Jones.
In terms of Reading’s transfer business so far, it has been somewhat quiet with things now starting to pick up, with attackers Harvey Knibbs and Sam Smith the only two new additions so far, both joining the club from Cambridge United.
Writer’s View
Harlee Dean would be an excellent signing for Reading if they was to take his trial period into a permanent deal with the club. He is a defender with bucket loads of appearances in the Championship under his belt but as well as that, he is a proper team player, something I feel Reading could do with.
Certainly, a capture of Dean’s experience would go a long way for the Royals in a quest to return to the Championship after dropping out of the second tier last season. It could be a game-changing signing for the club and I’ll be intrigued to see what happens next.
Very good defender. Only really fell out of favour because of the ridiculous wage our club foolishly agreed to pay him under Harry Redknapp. It wasn’t his fault that the club suffered huge money problems. Dean always gave 100% but after x number of appearances he was due a payrise and they froze him out. He was loaned out and not played until his contract ran down. I wish him all the best at finding a new club.