Discovery+ and Quest pundit Jobi McAnuff admits that Reading may have taken something of a risk with the signing of Andy Carroll.

It was announced earlier this week that Carroll has signed a short-term deal with the Royals, that is initially set to keep him at the club until the middle of January.

The striker had been a free agent after leaving Newcastle at the end of last season, having previously also played in the Premier League for Liverpool and West Ham.

Carroll also has nine senior international caps - and two goals - to his name for England, but has seen much of his career blighted by injury.

Even so, Carroll did not have to wait long to make his Reading debut, coming off the bench as a second-half substitute in his new side's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.

Never the less, it does seem as though McAnuff feels that both parties may be taking something of a chance by agreeing to this deal.

Asked what he made of Reading's decision to sign Carroll, the former midfielder - who made 206 appearances and scored 16 goals for the Royals between 2009 and 2014 - exclusively told Football League World:

"It's a little bit out of the blue if I'm honest. What you can't question is the level and the pedigree that he has played at previously.

"I think the biggest issue for Reading this year has been the problem with injuries at the football club.

"Clearly he's had his issues with that, so for me that's a little bit of a question mark, but what you have got potentially is a player who we all know can go and perform very very well if they can keep him fit and if they can fit him into that frontline.

"They've had issues with Lucas Joao this year being injured who's a real focal point of the attack so clearly I think bringing Andy Carroll in for the short-term is probably to try and plug that gap.

"Potentially, hopefully, if they can keep him fit they could do something longer term but it is a bit of a risk, I think from both points of view, and we'll just have to see how that one pans out."

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