Kenya international Ayub Timbe has described his transfer move to EFL Championship side Reading as “a wrong decision.”
The 29-year-old, who currently turns out for Buriram United in Thailand, sealed a transfer move to the Royals on January 31, 2020. He signed a six-month loan deal from Chinese side Beijing Renhe and the move happened on deadline day.
Timbe has revealed how the transfer to Reading, which saw him make only five appearances, impacted his finances as he was forced to take a pay cut.
“I took the pay cut to join Reading. It was a big one and I think that is where things went south for me,” Timbe said as quoted by People Sport.
Timbe has further explained the Berkshire-based club was keen to hand him a long-term contract on the expiry of his short-term deal but he turned it down.
“At the beginning, they wanted me for six months but after two months of training they came back and said they like how I train and that I had shown clear intentions to be in the team and offered a four-year contract,” Timbe continued.
“However the pay cut was way below what I was getting in China.”
On the reasons he declined the offer, Timbe explained: “What I was being offered in those four years is equivalent to what I was getting in China in eight months.
“As you may be aware, a contract extension refusal could impact negatively on your playing time and I guess that is exactly what happened.”
On leaving Reading, Timbe moved to Vissel Kobe of Japan where he managed eight appearances but later terminated his contract with the J1 League outfit after five months.
“I was in Japan and there were a lot of politics that I needed more time to fit in the team but I was 28 years old,” Timbe explained his decision to leave.
“My feeling was that there was no time to wait for playing time at that age and surely not in Japan.
“If it was somewhere else maybe I could have been considered.
“All in all, I can say I had good time and experience only that I felt like I was wasting time knowing very well that football is a short career which requires good time management.”
Last season, Timbe won three trophies with Buriram – the Thailand league title, the FA Cup, and the Thai League Cup.
