Brighton boss Gus Poyet has rejected a bumper bonus to take charge of Reading.

The Independent says Poyet turned down the offer to take over at Reading, and a £1.5m bonus if he kept them in the Premier League, to stay at the Championship club and push for promotion.

The former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder had met with Reading owner Anton Zingarevich and director of football Nicky Hammond and given the go-ahead for contract negotiations to start.

However, after a day of pondering the move and analysing the two squads' relative merits he decided to stay at Brighton, just outside the play-off places on goal difference.