Alen Halilovic and Baba Rahman: Reading sign international duo

Alen Halilovic (left) and Baba Rahman have been able to join Reading despite the club still being under an EFL transfer embargo

Reading have signed free agent Croatian midfielder Alen Halilovic and Chelsea's Baba Rahman on a season-long loan.

Halilovic, 25-year-old, who has won 10 caps for his country, was released by Birmingham City in the summer and has agreed a one-year contract.

Ghana left-back Rahman, 27, has not played for Chelsea since May 2016.

He has spent the intervening time on loan at Schalke, Reims, Mallorca and PAOK Salonika having moved to Stamford Bridge from Augsburg in 2015.

Halilovic began his career at Dinamo Zagreb and had spells at European giants Barcelona and AC Milan, as well as loans at clubs such as Las Palmas, Sporting Gijon and Heerenveen.

He scored once in 17 Championship appearances for the Blues last season.

"He will add further depth to our squad and will bring with him a wealth of creativity which can only benefit the team," Reading chief executive Dayong Pang said of Halilovic to the club website.

"We are delighted to complete this deal to bring Baba to Reading," Pang added.

"He brings a wealth of experience of the game from playing football in the Premier League, around Europe and for his country. His knowledge and ability will be hugely important for us across the course of another busy season."

According to the English Football League website Reading are still under a transfer embargo for breaching profit and sustainability rules.

But under the terms of the embargo they can sign free agents and loan players, but cannot pay fees to acquire loan players and cannot pay additional wages on top of the salary the player receives at their parent club.

Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.