21-year-old defender Jeriel Dorsett has put pen to paper to commit the next year of his career to the club he has called his home since 2014.
The centre-back has been a Royal since signing for our Academy as an Under-13 and this new contract takes him to a decade spent at Reading Football Club.
Jeriel made his first team debut under Mark Bowen - as a late substitute for fellow youngster Andre Burley in an FA Cup win at Blackpool back in January 2020.
He then started his first game as a Royal in the same competition the following year – featuring in a 1-0 defeat at Luton Town.
In 2021-22, Dorsett earned regular first team football for the first time as a loanee at Rochdale, making 42(+3) appearances at Spotland to help them retain their League Two status.
Last season, the defender spent the campaign north of the border with Scottish Premier League side Kilmarnock.
Injury hampered his initial involvement at Rugby Park, but Dorsett returned from a spell on the sidelines to feature 12 times for Killie.
Jeriel scored his first professional goal against the might of Rangers at Ibrox in March, heading past Allan McGregor to mark his return to fitness by etching his name on the scoresheet.
He helped keep Derek McInnes’ men in the top tier following their promotion as Scottish Championship title-winners the previous season and now, after playing a full part in our pre-season training camp in Spain, Jeriel will be hoping to break into the first team at Reading in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Reading Football Club can also confirm that 20-year-old left-sided defender Geneiro Maragh has also put pen to paper on a contract with Noel Hunt’s Under-21s.
Former West Ham United and Cambridge United youngster, Maragh spent a spell on trial with our Under-21s in the second half of last season and impressed sufficiently to earn himself a contract for 2023-24.
