THE EMERGENCE of Jordan Obita as a Reading FC star for the future has been one of the undoubted highlights of the season.

The 20-year-old enjoyed the kind of breakthrough year most youngsters dream of.

A barnstorming campaign saw him crowned Reading’s Player of the Season on Saturday and called into the England Under 21 squad for an upcoming tournament in France.

Now, a string of Premier League clubs are sniffing around including Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, who knows Obita well from his days with Reading.

Yet, with the footballing world seemingly at his feet, the Royals Academy graduate says he would gladly swap it all for a place in the play-off semi-finals - and a potential shot at promotion to the Premier League.

But Obita and his teammates will be forced to wait at least another year after last weekend’s gut-wrenching finale, which saw Brighton pip Royals to sixth spot.

The 20-year-old admitted: “I would trade it for promotion any day. Unfortunately we didn’t get that.

“Everyone is really disappointed but we’ve got to build on this next season and get into the Premier League.

“It’s heartbreaking when it does go down to the final day but we’ve got to be positive and make sure we get promotion next season.

“When we found out Brighton had scored it killed us. We had planned our season to finish in the top two or at least the play-offs but it hasn’t happened.

“Now we’ve got to make sure that next year we either go up as champions or in the play-off final at Wembley.

He added: “If you look back you could say our away form at the start at the season wasn’t great and nor was our home form.

"The players and fans stuck together, but it was hard for those last few games.”

Reading’s 2-2 draw with Burnley on Saturday ended in bizarre fashion as a false message reached supporters that Nottingham Forest had equalised against Brighton in the dying seconds, which would have sent Nigel Adkins’ men into the play-offs.

Obita recalled: “We thought we were in the play-offs so we were trying to waste a bit of time and run the clock down.

“We had a few chances to score again but the Burnley keeper played very well.

“When the whistle went there were players on the floor, we didn’t know what was happening. We thought we were through, but we didn’t actually know for sure.

“We saw the fans’ reaction and I think they were confused. We tried to get back to the changing rooms then we found out Brighton had scored in the last couple of minutes, which obviously broke our hearts.

“It’s the first time I’ve experienced something like that and hopefully the last.”

Obita was named Player of the Season ahead of Chris Gunter in second and Danny Williams in third.

Reading could now face a fight to keep hold of Obita in the summer transfer window as top-flight clubs - including ex-boss Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool - consider making their move.

In the meantime, Obita will begin preparing for a summer of international football with England.

He has been named in Gareth Southgate’s 30-man squad for the upcoming England Under 21s game against Wales on May 19.

Following that, he will then join up with the Under 20s squad that travels to France for the Toulon Tournament.