READING are set to announce the imminent signing of Chelsea wonderkid Ryan Bertrand and are also closing in on Tottenham Hotspur"s Dorian Dervite.

The Chronicle can exclusively reveal that attacking left-back Bertrand. 19, will pen a one-year loan deal with the Royals and is expected to arrive at the Madejski Stadium for a medical today (Thursday).

It is also understood that Reading boss Brendan Rodgers is close to landing 20-year-old Spurs" centre-back Dervite to strengthen his defence.

Royals need cover in that position as Michael Duberry has been released and talismanic defender Ivar Ingimarsson will be unavailable until September at the earliest as he recovers from knee surgery.

Bertrand will give Rodgers more options at full-back as Player of the Year Chris Armstrong is nursing his way back from a serious knee injury.

However, there is no imminent end in sight to the Tommy Smith saga with Reading in regular dialogue with Watford over a transfer fee.

Royals had a £800,000 bid rejected by the Hornets who subsequently accepted £1.8 million from Sheffield United.

Rodgers, though, stated Smith wants to play for him and the clubs are now attempting to reach a compromise over the 29-year-old striker.

Rodgers would not comment on specific players but he admitted the club is in the market for defenders.

'Ivar Ingimarsson is out until September at least and Chris Armstrong is coming back from a long injury so we are looking to reinforce the defence,' he said.

'If we can add three or four players and another in attack I will be very happy.'

Frenchman Dervite joined Spurs" Academy from Lille in July 2006 and made his full debut that November in a Carling Cup win over Port Vale.

Sadly, it remains his only first-team appearance for the North London giants after he suffered a serious knee injury in a friendly against Norwich in January 2007 which kept him out for a year.

The 6ft 3ins stopper eventually worked his way back into the squad for some UEFA Cup clashed and an FA Cup tie against Manchester United before making a loan switch to Southend United in January this year.

He played 18 games and was named in the League One team of the season but recent reports hinted at an imminent return to France.

However, French Under 21 star is now on the verge of joining the Royals for the forthcoming season and several impressive performances in the recent Toulon Tournament have further bolstered his reputation.

Meanwhile, Bertrand may be young but he is already up to speed with the Championship having made 54 league appearances on loan for Norwich City where he was a massive fans" favourite.

The marauding left-back has pace and ability and is a regular with the England Under 21 squad.

He played twice for Norwich against Reading last season and lost 2-0 both times.

But the Southwark-born youngsters is seen as Ashley Cole"s long-term replacement and Rodgers knows him well following his spell in charge of Chelsea"s Academy.

The Blues initially signed him from Gillingham in 2005 for £125,000 and he has had previous loan spells with Bournemouth and Oldham.

Royals have also been linked with loan swoops for his Blues team-mates Jack Cork and Michael Mancienne.

Cork has had short spells with Bournemouth, Southampton and most recently Watford where he played under ex-Hornets boss Rodgers.

Mancienne has been at QPR and Wolves and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is willing to loan them out again.

But Rodgers still needs a new strikers now that Kevin Doyle has joined Wolves for £6.5 million, on-loan Dave Kitson has returned to Stoke City and Leroy Lita has been released.

If the Smith deal falls flat, Reading could go for Leeds United"s highly-rated Robert Snodgrass.

'You lose a Premier League striker when you lose Kevin Doyle,' he explained. 'There is no hiding behind that but we could also be a lot worse off.

'As a club the aim for is to create chances and score goals. If you look back over the last five years the main thing that decides which teams are promoted are the number of goals scored not conceded.

'We have goalscorers in the group at the moment and we will try and add to that over the next few weeks. We want to reinforce up front and add something to it.'