HIBERNIAN have been handed a boost in their Marc McNulty chase after Reading boss Jose Manuel Gomes confirmed the striker has no future with the Championship outfit.
McNulty notched eight goals in 17 appearances for the Easter Road club after arriving on loan in January.
READ MORE: Former Juventus forward Vykintas Slivka struggling for fitness at Hibs
His displays for the capital club were enough to earn him a maiden Scotland call-up under Alex McLeish, coming on as a substitute in Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and San Marino.
Hibs head coach Paul Heckingbottom has made no secret of his desire to bring McNulty back to Edinburgh, either on loan or on a permanent basis.
But there is likely to be a host of interested parties after Gomes – who has been told he must slash the wage bill before he can strengthen his Reading squad - made it clear McNulty was surplus to requirements.
McNulty is one of seven Reading players told not to report for the first week of training along with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Sam Baldock, Chris Gunter, Garath McCleary, Adrian Popa and David Meyler
And Gomes said: "I spoke with all of them at the end of the season, talking about the plans and the club's ideas.
"We must do something, like everybody knows with the financial issues, so the club is respecting them.
"We haven't seen too many movements in the Championship clubs but we are expecting in this couple of weeks we can find - and also their agents and themselves - they can find the solutions for their career."
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