Reading boss Paul Ince has said that adding strength in depth to the club's goalkeeping department was a transfer priority this summer as the Royals confirmed the signing of Joe Lumley.
The 27-year-old is heading to the Select Car Leasing Stadium on a season long loan from Middlesbrough.
The shot-stopper fell out of favour under Chris Wilder at the Riverside Stadium towards the back end of the 2021/22 campaign.
Speaking in the announcement that confirmed the Lumley news, Ince explained that he was looking forward to seeing the 27-year-old stake his claim for the number one spot at Reading next season.
"The goalkeeping position was a difficult one to solve for this club last season, so it was a priority to add strength in depth to that corner of the dressing room ahead of a brand new challenge in 2022-23." Ince told Reading club media.
"Lumley is a tall, confident, capable young keeper and he will be hungry to stake a claim for the goalkeeper position when he joins us at the start of pre-season training this week."
Lumley is an experienced shot-stopper for his age having made 178 senior appearances in his career so far.
111 of these have came in the Championship during his time at QPR and Middlesbrough.
At Boro last season, Lumley appeared 34 times in the second-tier, keeping 13 clean sheets during those matches.
The Verdict
After their goalkeeping troubles last season, with a variety of players having held the number one role, Reading could potentially have their new number one in Joe Lumley.
After making the move to Boro last summer, it was clear that Lumley had fallen out of favour under Chris Wilder towards the back end of last campaign, so a move this summer always seemed a possibility.
Reading, though, will need further re-enforcements in this department in the coming months.
Orjan Nyland is set to be released when his contract expires at the end of the month, and there are also reports that the club are willing to allow Luke Southwood to leave this summer.
If Southwood also departs, that would currently leave Lumley as the only senior keeper at Reading prior to re-enforcements arriving.