The January transfer window is in full flow, a month where supporters eagerly refresh social media and watch the news to see if their team can bring in an exciting striker or combative midfielder.

Even Reading fans, who usually miss out on the fun of transfer windows with a long-standing embargo, saw a player walk through (back through) the door in Chem Campbell last week.

Frustration and disappointment are the usual emotions for Royals fans in January over recent years, but that was not always the case.

While we wait for the window to slam shut and wait for a time when the club get get active again, lets reminisce and look back at five of the best winter additions in the modern era.

Jason Roberts, January 2012

A vastly experienced striker who was frequently among divisional top scorers charts across the 2000s, Roberts had crossed paths regularly with the Royals while on the books of Bristol Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers.

Finding game time hard to come by in the first half of 2011/12, the 34-year-old dropped out of the Premier League to promotion-chasing Reading, and it was quite the introduction.

Scoring on his debut against Bristol City, the striker won his first eight matches in a row and picked up nine goal contributions in that time.

Ending 2011/12 with six goals in 17 appearances and a Championship winners medal, the Grenada international was hampered by injuries upon the club's promotion to the Premier League, scoring a goal in the 7-5 defeat to Arsenal and managing 12 appearances before being forced to retire in 2013.

Seven goals in 29 appearances may not look too influential on paper, but everyone that remembers the heady days under Brian McDermott will always hold Roberts in such high regard.

Yann Kermorgant- January 2016

A Championship regular with Leicester City, Charlton Athletic and Bournemouth, Kermorgant was another striker in his twilight days when he arrived in 2016, similar to Roberts four years earlier.

Taking more time to settle, the Frenchman only netted three goals in 17 appearances during the end of the 2015/16 campaign, but it was 2016/17 where 35-year-old Kermorgant found the form of his life and nearly powered Reading to the Premier League.

His previous best individual season was 17 goals in 2014/15 as the Cherries won the Championship, but two years later the traditional number nine went two better and plundered 19 goals as Jaap Stam's side finished third in the second tier.

Set to retire, the forward signed a new short-term deal which included the following season, which saw just two goals hit the net, before hanging up his professional boots and returning to boyhood club Vannes in 2018.

The Class of '19

The remaining three additions all came in one remarkable month as Jose Gomes re-moulded the Royals to ensure Championship survival come April. Including a World Cup winner and regular international, it proved quite the turnaround.

Emiliano Martinez

A youngster with Arsenal who made his debut at Reading back in 2012 as the Royals infamously threw away a 4-1 lead to lose 7-5, the goalkeeper had five loan spells before his switch to Berkshire in 2019.

Making18 appearances and evidently too good for the division, he returned to the Emirates and made 24 appearances before joining Aston Villa permanently in 2020.Five years later, the Argentine has a World Cup winners medal, has been named FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year and has made nearly 200 appearances for the Villains as they have made themselves Champions League contenders. All possible after being given a chance to impress with the Royals.

Nelson Oliviera

A regular scorer in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and Norwich City, a falling out at Carrow Road gave the Portugal international a chance to join Reading.

Hungry from the get-go and a personality supporters took to, the forward only managed three goals in 10 appearances during an injury-hit spell but all were key strikes, including a late winner against Blackburn Rovers and the opener against Norwich's rivals, Ipswich Town.

Matt Miazga

One of many Chelsea youngsters Reading have loaned in down the years, USA international Miazga had top-flight experience in America, Holland and France before driving down the M4.

18 appearances during the backend of 2018/19 was enough for the Royals to extend his deal for the entirety of 2019/20, which they also did with Ovie Ejaira, for the American to make another 24 appearances- scoring twice.