At the price Reading want im simply not comfortable with the outlay and potential value for money.
I'd sooner get a more expirience player in on loan for a season or on a free/nominal and pay them £40k plus.
Problem is, who is available?
Off the top of my head I cannot think of anyone for that price.
With the way we do business there will always be a small element of risk in terms of experience because experience demands more of a fee, as does goals.
I agree that 7mill is over the top and would not be comfortable paying more than 3 million for Long.
There is the other issue of fan expectation as well. With Odemwingie we all thought that just over 1million if he doesn't bag us goals then we haven't lost a great deal.
However, at 7mill some fans would expect him to score every game he plays. We as fans are not used to spending that kind of money and I can see the pressure that would be on this guys shoulders from some of the fans.