Reading have raided Championship rivals Southampton to bring highly-rated 16-year-old star Danny Joyce to the Madejski Stadium.Joyce - captain of the Republic of Ireland Under-17s - has signed a scholarship at the Madejski and has impressed academy manager Eamonn Dolan.

Dolan told the club's official website: "Danny is a good technical player and we are pleased to fight off a lot of competition to get him here.

"He's made a good start to his scholarship. He's versatile player who can play centre-back, right-back or in midfield.

"Physically he's not quite got the strength yet. He's got some way to go with that but if we're patient with him he can progress to be a very good player."

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