Serie B outfit Cagliari have made contact with Reading after taking an interest in striker George Puscas, according to a report from Tuttomercatoweb.com.

The 26-year-old spent the second half of last season out on loan in Italy after failing to make an effective impact at the Select Car Leasing Stadium during the early stages of the 2021/22 campaign.

In fact, he only managed to score two goals in 27 appearances and this was a big reason why the Royals found themselves near the bottom of the Championship, with the Romanian failing to fill the void left by a then-injured Lucas Joao.

It was a different story for him in Italy though as he linked up with second-tier outfit Pisa, scoring eight goals in 22 appearances and popping up at crucial times to keep them in the promotion mix.

Despite this positive spell though, they have opted against triggering the permanent option in his loan agreement and with this, the striker has returned to his parent club where he is just one of two senior forward options at this stage alongside Joao.

He could be offered an escape by Fabio Liverani's Cagliari though, with Tuttomercatoweb.com reporting that they have made contact with the Berkshire outfit for his services.

They are also interested in Gianluca Lapadula and Ilija Nestorovski - and two of the trio could potentially arrive at the club if they were to sell Leonardo Pavoletti.

The Verdict:

A return to Italy could be ideal considering he's already plied this trade there and could potentially thrive in the second tier of Italian football again if given another opportunity to shine.

From there, with plenty of time left in his career, he can then work his way up to Serie A and potentially stand out at the top level too, putting his career back on track following what has been a torrid spell in Berkshire.

It doesn't look as though Paul Ince will be playing two up top anytime soon and with this, it seems futile to keep the Romanian if they have two or three replacements lined up that could come in.

From the Royals' perspective, they would probably benefit from cashing in on him because he's likely to be one of their top earners as their record signing - and they may need to sell high earners like him because of the fact they are working within a tight budget this summer.

A failure to remain within this budget would see them suffer a further six-point deduction - and considering they already face an uphill battle in their quest to remain afloat in the division once more - that would be a disaster.