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Jaap Stam has appeared to take a swipe at Leicester City over their reluctance to part with defender Liam Moore.

Royals have been chasing the 23-year-old old all summer but have been unable to strike a deal with the Premier League club.

Despite not issuing Moore with a squad number for the new season, or even giving him a locker in the first-team changing room, the Foxes are refusing to allow to him to leave.

And Stam is clearly growing frustrated at not being able to land his man. Speaking about possible incomings at Madejski Stadium , Royals’ boss said: "Hopefully one or two will come in. We would have liked to have them in a couple of weeks ago but it’s dragging on a bit.

“Sometimes you wonder why it takes so long. Sometimes the club needs to work with the player.

“If he’s not going to be playing then he’s not going to be improving. So sometimes the club can be a bit helpful as well.”

When quizzed on whether he was referring to Leicester and their handling of Moore’s potential switch to Berkshire, Stam added: “It’s not easy for me to decide how things go - but sometimes you need to work with the players.

“You have to look at what the best thing to do is for the player.

"Can you put him on loan somewhere? Can you sell him and let him develop? Or do you just let him train every week and let him run around the pitch for 365 days a year?

“I don’t know the whole situation but for him (Moore) it would be very good if he gets to play somewhere.”