READING are in exclusive negotiations with a new unnamed buyer. Current Chinese owner Dai Yongge has had the club up for sale the past 18 months. And were on the brink of being taken over by ex-Wycombe owner Rob Couhig in the summer. Dai Yongge pulled out and there is currently a legal battle between the two parties.
![[Reading F.C. flag at Madejski Stadium.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/general-view-madejski-stadium-home-973344313_e72457.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Reading fans are in fear of what will happen this summer with only five first-team players currently contracted for next season - despite the Royals sitting just three points behind the League One play-off spots. A club statement said this period is "to complete final due diligence and legally complete the transaction. Whilst timelines cannot be guaranteed, the structure of the deal should allow for a quick completion, which would be for the benefit of all concerned.".
![[Dai Yongge, Chairman of Renhe Commercial Holdings Co Ltd, toasting.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a233c093-b812-4cf3-9ed1-6ad40c730d2a.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
It includes “the transfer of Mr Dai’s shareholding in The Reading Football Club Limited, as well as the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Bearwood Park training ground.”. The Royals were relegated from the Championship in 2023 after 10 years in the second tier, with a six-point deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability rules proving the difference between staying up and going down.
![[Reading fans protesting on the pitch during a soccer match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/000-home-fans-invaded-pitch-871670791.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
They were docked a further two points at the beginning of the following season for failing to pay their players. Fans soon launched a 'Sell Before We Dai' campaign, urging Mr Yongge to sell his stake in the club and labelled their decline under his ownership an "unmitigated disaster".
![[Fans protesting at a Reading football match.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-efl-league-one-match-871687199.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
More points deductions followed, and Reading's home game against Port Vale was abandoned in January 2024 after fans invaded the pitch in protest at the ongoing ownership woes. Just last week a petition was launched calling for MPs to scrutinise Reading's woes, and called on a DCMS committee to launch an investigation.
