Karacan: I’m delighted

Reading midfielder Jem Karacan has expressed his delight at signing a new deal and has special reserved praise for the Royals’ academy set-up.

The London-born midfielder signed a contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the Madejski Stadium until the summer of 2015. Jem is one of the many academy products to make it into the first team, along with the likes of Alex Pearce, Hal Robson-Kanu, Simon Church and most notably Gylfi Sigurdsson, who have all gone onto play for their country.

Speaking to the Reading FC official site, the 23-year old said: ‘I`m delighted to get it done. We`ve been in negotiations for a while so it`s nice to finally put pen to paper. To come through with the likes of Pearcey, Churchy, Alex McCarthy, Gylfi, was brilliant – and each and every one of us has done well.’

‘I have to thank the gaffer, especially as he`s just offered me a new deal! He`s been great and has given the youngsters a chance to prove themselves – you don`t see too many clubs doing that. Nigel Gibbs has been brilliant as well ever since he joined as a development coach. It gave us a chance to work with a top quality coach and use his experience.’

Wiki page: Jem Karcan