Couhig hints at securing new investors for Reading

BBC News

06-06-2025

Reading owner Rob Couhig has hinted that he and business partner Todd Trossclair are working to "bring in a couple of partners" to add more financial firepower to the club.The American businessman and lawyer completed a takeover of the Royals in mid-May and has since been working alongside new chief executive officer Joe Jacobson to get the club back on its feet. Couhig has said that manager Noel Hunt will have money to spend on players this summer, and suggested that he is looking to bring in more investors. "We're doing some things to make sure that Todd and I are not alone out there with our money," Couhig told BBC Radio Berkshire."Although I think we could certainly afford it, we're bringing in a couple of partners that will add to our financial strength."When it comes to spending, you can't go in like Mr Dai (Yongge) did and just spend money on players without some rational basis to the revenue the club generates."Bloomberg claimed weeks ago, external that Miami-based investment firm - Aliya Capital Partners were set to join Reading's ownership group. Part of the work that Couhig has done so far is to organise which of the players will be staying and which will be leaving this summer. The annual retained list showed that 11 first-team players had been offered new deals, and since then midfielder Lewis Wing has been the only one that has committed to remain."We know how much money we can spend without violating the rules," Couhig added. "We will have as much money as all but three or four clubs in the league."We're doing everything we can to increase the revenue so we can spend as much as we can on players, the more we spend on players then the better chance we have of success."Our goal is to be successful and we want to be ambitious but honour our core principles of honesty, transparency and financial sustainability."
Uncertainty around academy
Couhig also touched on the Royals' academy, and what the future would hold for what is currently a 'category one' set-up. Reading are well-known for their development of young players, with a prime example being Michael Olise, who the club financially benefitted from when he made a big money move from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich in 2024."We're going to do our best to keep the academy as a category one," Couhig said."But I'm a huge believer in the Brentford or Wycombe model where you have a great developmental squad which brings in late teens performing at a high level in with the first team."What probably will happen we won't know for sure for some months as I haven't had a chance to chat about it yet, but Joe (Jacobson) has and he's making it a priority, the academy is not going anywhere."