Reading Sign Paudie O’Connor: Another Big Statement Of Intent

He’s joined from Lincoln City on a free transfer.

Reading have got their summer 2025 business up and running with the addition of Paudie O’Connor, a 27-year-old centre-back, from Lincoln City. He’s joined on a free transfer, agreeing a four-year deal with the Royals.

And it’s a hugely impressive first signing of the Rob Couhig era. O’Connor was widely recognised as one of the best players in his position in the division last season - if not the best (although Tyler Bindon will have words to say about that) - and accordingly was linked to a number of lower Championship/upwardly mobile League One sides this summer.

Reading have seen off all that competition to get their man. Undoubtedly the length and financials of the contract on offer will have played a big part in turning O’Connor’s head, and the fact Stephen Hunt is his agent won’t have hurt at all, but still, him choosing the Royals is a big endorsement of our overall potential going into next season.

As with prior contract renewals for Lewis Wing and Joel Pereira, a quality League One player has chosen to commit their future to Reading. That can only be a good thing as the Royals seek to persuade more such talent to sign on in the coming weeks and months; one statement of intent tends to beget another statement of intent, so O’Connor’s arrival could precede similarly encouraging additions.

Reading owner Rob Couhig emphasised the significance of O’Connor’s arrival and the character he brings to the dressing room.

“Paudie was always the person we expected to sign at this point. It was important for us to get Lewis, Joel, and now Paudie, because it demonstrates to the lads in the club our commitment, it demonstrates to our fans our commitment, and lets the league at large know that we’re here to play.

“One of the things that I like so much about working with Joe and Noel is that we all value the same things. We want guys of strong character who bring more to the dressing room than simply the ability to kick a ball - and he does that in spades! He’s a heck of a player, so the combination of the two equates to the ideal Reading player.”

Manager Noel Hunt echoed the latter point, while adding that O’Connor is a long-term target.

“Paudie is a fantastic lad and will be a big character in the dressing room, he’s exactly the type of person we want at our Football Club for our rebuild. He’s been a huge part of Lincoln’s success over the past three years.

“We’ve had our eyes on him for a while, I’ve been a big admirer of his for some time. I knew about him when he was in the Leeds setup, and I can’t wait to work with him on a day to day basis.”

What kind of player are Reading getting?

Probably the best way of answering this is to compare O’Connor to Bindon, who he’s effectively replacing as Reading’s first-choice left-sided centre-back.

The obvious difference is that he’s a lot older (27 as opposed to 20) and has a few hundred games’ worth of experience under his belt after spells at Bradford City and Lincoln. So Reading are very much getting an established player, someone who’s in their prime and able to deliver right now - rather than needing some time to develop as Bindon did when he joined.

Looked at in that way, the signing of O’Connor reminds me of the addition of Wing, Sam Smith and Harvey Knibbs a couple of years ago. They’re all players who knew the division before joining Reading and already had the experience/quality to impact games regularly, while being in the prime of their career - not overly young or old.

We can also see in O’Connor’s stats (excellently presented by @Rich_Analysis96 on Twitter here) that he’s a standout in his ground and aerial duels, albeit not quite as good as Bindon in his distribution.

Depending on who else Reading have in their defensive options next season that may necessitate a slight change in build-up style. Bindon gave Reading composure, balance and quality in how he brought the ball out from the back - traits that were always going to be hard to replace in one signing.

However, the addition of O’Connor should go some way towards reducing the lack of physicality in the side which was sometimes a problem last season. So it’ll be interesting to see if Reading are able to evolve their back four next season, rather than simply making up for the loss of Bindon.