Leeds United are facing competition from Everton for securing the long-term services of Tom Pearce. The Toffees want to facilitate the return of the left-back to Goodison but Paul Heckingbottom and his team want to extend his stay. The 20-year-old has just days left on his current contract with the Whites and every other team are well within their rights to approach him for a free transfer.
Leeds will be entitled to a nominal compensation fee, which, by current standards, is hardly of any significance. Pearce spent his primary years in the Everton academy before making the switch to Leeds United in 2014. He worked his way up the United youth ranks to earn his place in this season’s senior team.
Pearce was named as one of the substitutes in the 2-1 FA Cup third round defeat to Newport County, which was his first call-up to the senior squad. He was handed his debut in the Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday in March and just days later scored his first goal for the club against Barnsley.
His development from the youth ranks has been fast and prolific. The Englishman has already shown signs of a promising career in English football and deserves a place in the Leeds first team in the near future.
None of the other prospects has really panned out for Leeds this season. Laurens De Bock has struggled to really plant his feet into the demands of Championship football and Gaetano Berardi remains a better fit on the right.
None of the fans would enjoy a recap of the Charlie Taylor situation who currently is thriving in the Burnley first team. Instead of making any squad improvements, opening up another gap in the squad will not bode well for their promotion chase next season.
We have all seen the horror second half of the 2017/18 season, which turned the club’s promotion hopes into a badly orchestrated joke. Paul Heckingbottom’s work has been inadequate and he has been criticised for that.
While Andrea Radrizzani and the rest of the board tries to figure out what to do with the managerial seat, the club needs to take a long hard look into each of the players’ contracts.
Some names can be done but not Tom Pearce. He is vetted in the club’s system and is developing into a proper fullback.
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Keeping youngsters like him will not only solidify the team’s depth, it will also save the club millions in their pursuit of a competent replacement. So, it will be a very good decision for Heckingbottom to try and keep Pearce at the helm for years to come.
