Midfield star Jem Karacan was thrilled to put pen to paper once again and devote himself to Reading Football Club.
The 23-year-old has been with the Royals for nearly a decade, making his breakthrough into the first-team from the Academy – and had a number of individuals to thank for helping him get here.
“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,” he said.
“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. Eamonn has also done a fantastic job and there are a lot of good young lads that are coming through.
“There are so many people to thank but now I can focus on the team and getting up the table.”
The Turkish star described it as a lifelong dream for him to make his Premier League debut and, despite one or two unfortunate results, Karacan is confident that the Royals can achieve great things this season – starting on Saturday at West Brom.
“To make my Premier League debut against Chelsea was a dream come true. It was always a dream of mine when I was growing up to play in this league so it’s nice to have finally done it.
“We’ve had a couple of disappointing results but we want to get a good result on Saturday and put things right.
“Hopefully I will score this season – if I do get one I’ll be going mental! But honestly I don’t care if I don’t score at all as long as we do ourselves justice, which I’m sure we will do.”