Negotiations with Goater are on-going, but should they collapse Pards will take the clubs money elsewhere, with Paulo di Canio a possible target. The Goater deal remains top priority, with fruitful talks reported to have taken place.
"We want a player of that (Goater's) quality to take us to the next level. I hope it's Shaun, but if it's not then we'll get another top player from somewhere else - we will get one," said Pardew, speaking to the press after last night's draw with Bournemouth.
The Royals achieved a highly-impressive fourth place finish followed by a titanic Play-Off battle last season much to the public's surprise. The feat was considered all the more remarkable as the Reading squad lacked any household names.
With a 'name' player on board Pardew is confident that his side can successfully bridge the gap between promotion and failure this time around. A shock move to bring Italian superstar Paulo di Canio to the Madejski on loan failed last season, as did a bid earlier this summer for Irish international David Connolly.
Having been messed around by top stars and their clubs on these two previous occasions, Pardew is today hoping for a quick conclusion to the Shaun Goater discussions so that he can move onto other targets if need be.
Pards added: "Shaun needs to give me an indication of how keen he is this week.
"There are a lot of problems with bringing a Premier League player to the First Division at the moment as you can imagine, so we're trying to overcome them."
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports have today linked Reading with a move for another Premiership player. Former Wimbledon defender Chris Perry, now with Tottenham, is reportedly set to complete a move to the Madejski Stadium. It has been suggested that the Royals have agreed an undisclosed fee with Spurs for the 30-year-old.