Harambee Stars Ace Ayub Timbe Signs For English Championship's Reading FC

NAIROBI, Kenya- Harambee Stars winger Ayub Timbe has joined English Championship side Reading FC on a six-month loan from Chinese second tier club Beijing Renhe where he has been for the last three years.

The speedy winger has been training with the club for the last few weeks and impressed coach Mark Bowen, who made the decision to sign him for the remainder of the season.

He underwent his medicals on Thursday evening with the finer details of the contract finalized on transfer deadline day.

“Masika is a precocious talent with real speed that means he can hurt the opposition in good areas of the field. We have had a look at him in training over recent weeks and he’s shown good qualities.

“He’s catching up on his fitness a little bit with the Chinese league being out of season at the moment, but I think he can be a real asset to us and I’m delighted to have him here,” Bowen stated.

Masika will be with the Championship side until the end of the season, but if he impresses stands a good chance at making the deal permanent.

Masika has spent a considerable time out of the country, having moved to Belgium at just 13. Starting off with Anderlecht, the youth ranks of Beerschot AC before signing professional terms at Genk in 2010.

At Genk, he played alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Christian Benteke and scored his first goal in a Europa League qualifying clash against FC Luzern in August 2012.

Masika went on loan to Lierse in 2014 and made the move permanent two years later, before taking up a new challenge with a transfer to the Chinese capital and Beijing Renhe in 2017.

Reading are currently in 15th place on the English Championship table after 29 matches and have only managed one win in their last five games.