Brian McDermott is confident Adrian Mariappa will be a Reading player on Monday and claims to be closing on another of his top transfer targets.
Royals set to land Hornets defender
Brian McDermott is confident Adrian Mariappa will be a Reading player on Monday and claims to be closing on another of his top transfer targets.
Sky Sports revealed on Friday that the Royals were
looking to lure Mariappa away from Championship outfit Watford.
An agreement has now been put in place between the two clubs, with the 25-year-old set to complete a switch to the Madejski Stadium once he has passed a medical.
"We have got a formality to take care of on Monday and I think once that's done and dusted we are hopeful of getting him signed on Monday," Royals boss McDermott told
Sky Sports News HD.
"He's a character, a fantastic character. He has done really well for Watford over a period of time.
"For a young man he has played a lot of games, he's got good pace and as a character he will fit in with what we are trying to do here - as has been the case with all of the players I have signed."
McDermott has been busy bringing fresh faces into his Reading squad this summer, as they ready themselves for a return to the Premier League, and he hopes another piece of business will be completed in the not too distant future.
He said: "We have made an offer for a player which has been ongoing for a number of weeks. We will wait and see.
"No names, not at the moment. He's in England, it's a player that we have targeted for a number of weeks now. We are hopeful that we can get it done."
Reading have been linked with an audacious approach for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, but McDermott has been quick to rubbish the rumours.
He added: "Jermain Defoe is a terrific player, he's a Tottenham player, and I don't think he'll be coming to Reading somehow."
