Hope Akpan’s move from Crawley Town to Reading has been confirmed.
The midfielder has signed for the Royals on a three-and-a-half-year deal, for a reported £300,000, and becomes the first Crawley player to leave the Broadfield for a Premier League club.
Akpan made 60 appearances after signing from Everton on a free in summer 2011, and scored eight times for the Reds, six of them coming this season as he impressed under manager Richie Barker in League One.
The Crawley manager said: “No manager likes to sell his best players but we received a very good offer from Reading and this is also a great move for Hope personally.
“Reading had obviously been looking at him before last Saturday’s FA Cup tie and judging by his performance in that game they clearly decided he was good enough to become part of their Premier League squad.
“Hope has come on leaps and bounds when you consider that he wasn’t a regular in League Two last season. He has got himself very fit, worked extremely hard at a lot of aspects of his game and all the management staff here at the club should take credit for the work we have done with him because it has helped him get a move into the best league in the world and we wish him all the best.”
Barker also confirmed Crawley had turned-down a second offer from an unnamed Championship club for defender Kyle McFadzean.
He added: “Obviously I am disappointed to be losing one of my best players, as any manager would be, but that is a fact of life for Crawley Town, competing as we are in League One with some massive clubs. I’m sure our supporters understand that.”