READING manager Brian McDermott hopes the arrival of Anton Zingarevich will signal the end of big player sales.

Royals have been forced to sell their crown jewels in recent years to balance the books after their parachute payments ran out.

McDermott stood by as the club cashed in on Gylfi Sigurdsson, Shane Long and ex-skipper Matt Mills to the tune of �16 million.

Nevertheless, Reading still reported losses of around �5 million for the year between 2010-11.

Chairman Sir John Madejski, 70, has spent years searching for a wealthy benefactor to take over the reigns and pump fresh investment into the squad.

And last week his dreams were answered when Thames Sports Investment, founded by Russian tycoon Anton Zigarevich, agreed to buy a 51% stake in the club for around �40 million.

Zigarevich, son of a wealthy timber and paper magnate, has already promised McDermott money to spend in the January transfer window.

McDermott said: "You have to move forward as a club and the way the club was going, it was only going one way.

"We saw what happened in the last two summers, the bottom line is you can't keep selling your players that have done really well. If you keep doing that you have a problem.

"All I ever really wanted was to keep the players we've got, and I honestly believe last year that, if we had been in a position to keep Shane Long, we would have done because of my relationship with him. But we weren't in that position.

"Hopefully we won't have to sell our best players now, which is so important. That's all I've wanted to do, if you can keep your best players and add a couple now and then, it's a recipe for success.

"On the face of it, it looks like a really good situation. If it's right for the club and the fans then that's the most important thing. Time will tell how it pans out but the club will still be run the way it's run."

Reading have been linked with Brentford defender Karleigh Osborne and Grimsby Town striker Liam Heard who scored his fourth hat-trick of the season in a 6-0 demolition of Bath City on Saturday.

McDermott is also tracking Blackburn striker Jason Roberts who cannot get a game at Ewood Park.

"I've got some licence to do something in January but it won't be fantasy football," added McDermott, who flew to Milan last week to meet the new owners. "If I see something that makes a difference I'll do it, no doubt about it. How much of a difference it makes will always depend on games and how people gel.

"I've got the option to do something, I've never had that option before. The most important thing before was being worried each summer, looking over my shoulder about losing players. It's always been difficult to manage in that situation.

"We've always run things a certain way, the football side is run a certain way, Nick Hammond has done a fantastic job as Director of Football, we work really well together."

Sadly, hours after Reading confirmed the potential buyout, they crashed back down to earth following a 1-0 defeat by Hull City at Madejski Stadium.

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