Jayden Wareham Swaps Reading For Exeter City

He was offered a new deal at Reading, having been out of contract.

We’ve been waiting for clarity on a bunch of out-of-contract players recently and have finally got some today, but it’s not been good news. Jayden Wareham has turned down a new deal at Reading, opting to sign for fellow League One club Exeter City.

His departure was initially confirmed by Reading along with that of Amadou Mbengue, who’s off to QPR. The Grecians announced the signing of Wareham a little later in the day.

The 22-year-old striker was out of contract at Reading, being one of a number of first-team players offered fresh terms in last month’s retained list. He’d agreed a one-year deal on joining the Royals in the summer of 2023, with a 12-month extension triggered in 2024.

The expectation had very much been that he’d sign a new deal at the SCL, with Wareham being a well regarded, talented and popular young player. However, for whatever reason (better wages or more regular football on offer?), he’s heading down to Devon.

While that could be read solely as a slight on Reading’s ability to retain players, another possibility is that the two camps simply couldn’t come to an agreement that worked for everyone. Exactly how keen the Royals were to keep Wareham and the extent they’d go to keep him are both hard to tell. Really though, we won’t know how to judge this exit until we know the standard of replacement that eventually comes in.

Still, at the moment it feels like a blow to lose a young, talented striker who was starting to come into his own in the second half of last season. Wareham had to bide his time for regular first-team action at Reading but steadily improved after Sam Smith’s departure in January.

In fact, he improved so much that you voted him as your TTE Rookie of the Season for 2024/25: our award for youngster that have enjoyed a breakthrough season. It felt very much like he was set up to have an even stronger 2025/26 at Reading, having got used to the rigours of regular senior-level football.

It’s also yet more squad churn in a summer with lots of that already. Reading still have plenty of time to get players in, yes, but that time will evaporate quickly.

Wareham leaves Reading after scoring eight goals and adding two assists in 55 games - or 2,478 minutes - across all competitions. That works out to a goal every 309 minutes.

The best of luck to him down in Exeter.