Simpson set for Reading move?

Heading out of NUFC? Premier League new boys Reading look to have won the race to sign Danny Simpson, according to a whole host of media outlets.

Pretty much all of the daily national newspapers are reporting the story, which doesn't mean much granted, but with this one I wouldn't be surprised at all.

At the end of the day Simpson is in the last year of his contract and is stalling on signing a new deal with the club. This puts him in a dangerous position regarding his future at the club as they won't want to let him walk away for nothing which means he is likely to move on over the summer if he doesn't agree to a deal at St James' Park.

I think some of the treatment that Simpson has been on the end of has been harsh in fairness. I see quite a lot of people calling him greedy and such, but he's first choice right back at the club currently and has been since our time in the Championship so does he not have a right to seek a better wage? And let's be honest, nobody knows what kind of wage he is after or what has been offered by the club.

In terms of his ability I also think he has been hard done by. I don't think he is the most gifted right-back ever and I know he has his flaws, but he also has his plus points and will work for the team. Obviously there are better players available, but remember we only paid £500,000 for him or something daft like that so I think it's fair to say that he has exceeded what should have been expected from him.

Besides, this is all paper talk anyway so we'll just have to see what is going on in the fullness of time. I'm just wondering if the stars are starting to align in our chase for Mathieu Debuchy though? Simpson potentially going, Lille lining up a right back in the form of Jose Bosingwa, Alan Pardew saying he expects a signing within 14 days? You never know...

If it is true and Simpson does go he'll get a warm reception upon his return from me, and I'd like to hope he'd get the same from the vast majority of fans. Love him, hate him, or somewhere in the middle of the two, it can't be denied that overall he has done a good job for us through the Championship to securing Premier League survival to helping us get back into Europe.

And that shouldn't be forgotten whatever happens!