Rumour has it New Zealand international goalkeeper Erin Nayler is on her way to the Royal County from French club Bordeaux and having perused the team’s squad page, she no longer appears to feature in the team so this looks like a done deal despite no official confirmation from Reading.
In an article published by Kiwi news website Stuff, Nayler is quoted as saying: “It’s regarded as one of the top leagues in the women’s football, so to go there and test myself against the best will be great” in what we can only assume is a reference to the FA WSL and the proposed move to Reading FC Women.
Indeed, the keepers’ Wikipedia page has already been updated to confirm the switch.
Nayler initially started out playing in her native country of New Zealand before making the move to the US to play for Sky Blue FC under her former manager in 2016, however after just 26 days and no appearances in goal she was let go by the club.
Somewhat more successful at international level, she continued to be first-choice keeper for the Ferns, which attracted attention from French champions Lyon, but unfortunately, she failed to make any appearances here too as third-choice keeper. She was loaned to Grenoble Foot 38 in 2017 and made 11 appearances, before making a permanent move to Division 1 FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the same year. She made 32 appearances for the club with her clean sheet percentage improving by 10% in the 3 years spent at the club.
Nayler won’t be the first Kiwi at Reading, the Royals signed full back Anna Green in 2017, though she moved on the following year. Royals newest Kiwi will be vying for the number one shirt with Grace Moloney after Rachael Laws recent departure to Liverpool.
