Reading FC have made an impressive start to this year's league campaign in the Championship under the management of Veljko Paunovic. 

The Royals are currently sat fifth in the second-tier standings after their opening 23 matches of the 2020/21 season, and they'll be quietly confident that they can build on these strong performances heading into the second-half of this year's campaign.

Reading aren't in action this weekend due to their match with Brentford being postponed due to off-the-field problems, which means that the Berkshire-based side have a welcome break heading into their next match against Coventry City.

It could be an interesting few weeks ahead for Paunovic and his Reading team though, with some of their key players being linked with moves elsewhere after such a strong start to the season .

We take a look at TWO players we could see leave Reading by the end of the month.

Omar Richards 

Richards has been hugely impressive in this year's campaign with Reading, and has made 21 appearances in all competitions for Veljko Paunovic's side this term.

The left-back is out-of-contract at the end of this season though, and it appears as though his strong performances haven't gone unnoticed this month.

German giants Bayern Munich are reportedly in talks with Richards over a pre-contract deal, which would see the defender sign for the club on a free transfer, which would surely be a tough one to take for Reading, who would have been keen to get as much as they could have for the 22-year-old.

Sam Smith 

Smith spent the first-half of this year's campaign on loan with Tranmere Rovers, but struggled to make an impact with the League Two side, as he scored zero goals in seven appearances.

The forward has struggled to force his way into the Reading first-team in recent years, and it seems highly unlikely that he'll be getting ahead of the likes of Lucas Joao, George Puscas, Sam Baldock or Nahum Melvin-Lambert anytime soon.

It wouldn't come as a surprise to see Reading try and move him on permanently during the January transfer window, with Smith being out-of-contract with the Berkshire-based side at the end of the 2020/21 season.