however, mooney would only last another month at cork city. it was revealed on 12 august 2008 that the club was in debt to the region of €800,000. however, this was not the only reason. mooney's season was similar to roy o'donovan's the season before. already top of the goalscoring charts, mooney had attracted renewed interest from england. one of the clubs was reading. on 20 august, he signed for them for a fee believed to be in the region of €260,000. mooney was given squad number 12.