Shorey was left out of the Reading team who drew 1-1 with Aston Villa

Reading manager Steve Coppell says he wants the Nicky Shorey transfer saga settled as soon as possible.

The full-back has been linked with a number of clubs for the past year and Coppell says he will be allowed to leave if the offer is right.

He told BBC Radio Berkshire: "For the last year he's said on a number of occasions he'd like a fresh challenge.

"We had a little bit of interest for Nicky last week, but I didn't feel it was an acceptable market valuation."

He continued: "It's an unsatisfactory situation. First and foremost, I'd love Nicky to be happy, to play here and really to feel his future is with us.

"He wants to go, we have an asset, so what's the value? I've said to players, if they don't want to be here, as long as we get an acceptable market value, they can go.

I know [Stephen Hunt] is not happy with the situation, but players get unhappy and we've got to make sure this season unhappy players don't damage the effectiveness of the squad Reading manager Steve Coppell

"Just to make people happy, I'm not going to sell people cheaply. We don't have to sell players for financial reasons.

"It's unsatisfactory now because it could well be that he's still here next week and we can't spend a lot of money in the market just in case he is still here."

Coppell admitted his plans to find a replacement for Shorey have been hampered by the delays.

"Signing a left-back has been one of our primary targets all pre-season because we've been anticipating this situation.

"There are certain players we'd like, but they cost an awful lot of money. Do we spend the money and then find Nicky Shorey's still here?

"Other players have become available to us who I have felt would be stop-gaps. I'd much prefer mix-and-match from within.

"Stephen Hunt would prefer to play wide on the left, but it would be doing me a great favour if he'd play left-back.

"I know he's not happy with the situation, but players get unhappy and we've got to make sure this season unhappy players don't damage the effectiveness of the squad."