5 reasons why Gylfi Sigurdsson's departure could be a good thing

It was inevitable. The only surprise might be the timing and the destination, but the Royal's gifted Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson is off to Hofenheim to play in the Bundesliga. Cue mass hysteria from a sizable portion of fans, but once again it's time for a reality check for many Loyal Royals. Here's my 5 reasons why this isn't the end of the world for Reading FC:

Back to 4-4-2
Churchy, Long and Hunt don't exactly excel in the lone front man role and we've lost Rasiak, so with Gylfi gone it's an ideal opportunity to revert to the system that took us to glory a few years back under Sir Steven of Coppellshire.

Dump the debt

No football club of our size should be operating with debt, it's not a good foundation for long-term success. Those who think this is all about 'lining Madejski's coffers' I think are being naive to say the least. Our ambition should be to prosper as a club on a firm financial footing.

Bring on the kids

A youth policy only works if you give those youngsters you are developing a chance. Gylfi got his chance and grasped it, what's to say that others won't do the same? Why should we 'reinvest' in older 'established' players who are often overvalued, overpaid and don't deliver the goods?

One-man team

I'm not sure it was ideal the way Gylfi had been portrayed in some corners as the saviour of Reading FC. We need more than one star in the team - and we've got a few players who fit that bill on their day. Of course he'll be missed, but the team can unite and move forward with purpose.

Now we can move on

Such drawn out transfer stories are never going to be a good thing for the player, team and club. Nobody wanted a Stephen Hunt saga. As sad as it is to see the departure of a fine young player, tomorrow it will be in the past and it will be time to focus on the next game.

...and how about some celebration for the fact that the club can nurture and develop talent in this way? Gylfi had not played any 1st team football before the start of last season - now he's valued at £6m. Who is to say we can not continue to do this?