Reading FC were real winners after Portsmouth hijacked Watford transfer | OneFootball

The Royals may have missed out on a deal for Tommy Smith, but they didn't feel the effects of that in the long term.

Reading looked set to get a deal over the line for then-Watford striker Tommy Smith, during the summer of 2009.

Dave Kitson had left the club again following the end of his loan spell in the May of that year - and Leroy Lita was released earlier by the Royals in that summer.

Not only this, but Kevin Doyle also made the move away from Berkshire, with the Republic of Ireland international securing a switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

With this in mind, it made sense for the Berkshire side to pursue a move for Smith, who had worked under Brendan Rodgers with the Hornets.

Rodgers had made the move to the Select Car Leasing Stadium in June 2009, so a move to Berkshire made sense for the forward, who had thrived under the Northern Irishman during the 2008/09 campaign.

And it was previously thought that he was closing in on a move, before then-Premier League outfit Portsmouth jumped in and hijacked the deal, in an agreement believed to be worth in the region of £2m in total.

This was a blow for the Royals, who would have been keen to secure a deal for Smith after seeing a couple of key forwards leave.

It was always going to be a big ask for Smith to make the step up to the top flight, but having thrived in the Championship, Pompey would have hoped that he could make a big impact.

And he did start quite a few games during the early stages of his time at Fratton Park, but he failed to make much of an impact in the end and was part of a team that were relegated at the end of the 2009/10 season.

Registering just one goal and one assist in 16 league appearances during that campaign, it was no surprise that he didn't last much longer on the south coast.

During the 2010 summer window, he made a loan move to Queens Park Rangers - and he made a permanent move to Loftus Road during the following window.

Reading FC didn't experience long-term impact of Tommy Smith saga

With Smith not joining, Grzegorz Rasiak was their only striker signing of the window. And in fairness to the Polish forward, he endured some fairly decent moments in a Royals shirt.

But he wasn't able to save Rodgers, who struggled for much of his short stay in Berkshire.

It could be argued that Smith's hijacked move may have played some part, considering the forward could have been a real hit in Berkshire, but he was always going to struggle with the style of play he tried to implement.

It was a vastly different style from the one Coppell adopted - and it was no surprise that Brian McDermott, who wasn't afraid to play directly like Coppell did, was more successful than predecessor Rodgers.

Under McDermott, who had known the likes of Shane Long and Simon Church for a while, having been at the Berkshire club for a considerable amount of time before he took the manager's job, the Royals were able to get themselves back on track.

Long established himself as one of the best strikers in the English second tier during the 2010/11 campaign and his sale during the summer of 2011, following the club's play-off heartbreak, funded quite a few additions.

Adam Le Fondre arrived just weeks after Long's sale - and played a huge part in the Royals' promotion-winning 2011/12 season. Jason Roberts, who came in during the January window and was probably able to be recruited because of Long's departure, also contributed a very decent amount during the second half of the term.

With these forwards enjoying success and playing their part in guiding the club to the top tier, either financially or through their performances on the pitch, the Berkshire side didn't really feel the effects of not recruiting Smith.

And that's what makes the Royals the winners of the hijacked 2009 deal.