Midfielder joins Paul Ince’s first team squad ahead of the 2022-23 campaign
Reading Football Club are delighted to welcome midfielder Jeff Hendrick to the club having agreed to a season-long loan move from Newcastle United.
The former Derby County, Burnley and Republic of Ireland midfield man has completed the paperwork to swap the Tyne with the Thames and will join his new teammates in training at Bearwood Park later today.
Head of Football Operations, Mark Bowen, said: “Jeff is a vastly experienced midfielder who has spent the large part of his career playing Premier League and international football. Importantly, he also knows what it takes to compete in the Championship and I am delighted he has joined us for 2022-23.”
Hendrick signed his first professional contract with Derby in 2010 and made his debut when he replaced Robbie Savage in a second tier clash with Burnley the following year.
His first professional goal was one which earned him a lot of credit with the Rams fans; Hendrick scored the winner, in only his fifth professional start of his career, to earn County an away win against fierce rivals Nottingham Forest in September 2011.
In total, Hendrick went on to make a total of 224 appearances with the Pride Park side, scoring 27 goals and twice competing for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.
In the summer of 2016, Burnley paid a club record fee for Hendrick’s services and he helped the Clarets finish seventh in the Premier League and earn European football at Turf Moor. Therefore, amongst his 140 appearances for Burnley were six Europa League appearances and the versatile midfielder signed a four-year deal at Newcastle in 2020.
In the international scene, Hendrick has been a regular for the Republic of Ireland ever since making his debut under Giovanni Trappatoni as a substitute against Poland in February 2013. The Dubliner helped his country qualify and then reach the knockout stages of Euro 2016 with a 1-0 win over Italy in Lille and he has totted up 74 caps for his country, scoring twice.
The second half of last season saw him feature ten times on loan for QPR and, last month, he played a part in all four of the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League matches against Armenia, Ukraine (twice) and Scotland.
Now he joins the Royals for the final few weeks of their pre-season preparations ahead of the start of the Championship campaign on Saturday 30 July.
Manager Paul Ince said, “Jeff is a midfielder I have admired for a long period of time. He has the ability and experience to play in a number of roles across the midfield, he works hard, he wins the ball back, he can pick a pass and he can score goals too. A player of his experience will prove so important for this club going into the challenge of the Championship this season.”
