Liverpool have been linked with a number of central defenders over the last few months, and one name that keeps popping up is Reading centre-half Alex Pearce. Former Arsenal star Kolo Toure is already on board, and it seems increasingly likely Pearce will be the next defender to sign-in at Anfield.
Last month, a source close to the the Republic of Ireland defender claimed that Pearce would 'jump at the chance of a move to Anfield', and earlier this week, Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre met with Pearce in a London Hotel. The Daily Mail reported:
"Liverpool have stepped up their pursuit of Reading defender Alex Pearce. Pearce was seen with the club's managing director Ian Ayre in plush Mayfair hotspot Novikov. Pearce could be set for a reunion with former boss Brendan Rodgers".
Contract talks between Pearce and Reading - One of Brendan Rodgers' former clubs - have stalled, and with the 23 year old's contract set to expire this summer, the possibility of a move away looks increasingly likely, and realistically, the only viable reason why Ayre would meet with Pearce is to discuss a potential transfer.
During his time as manager of Reading, Rodgers made Pearce his vice-captain, and he often compared him to Chelsea captain John Terry. For example, in one interview, Rodgers said:
“Alex was outstanding and looked like a mini John Terry out there. He reminds me in a lot of ways of John. They’ve got the same number 26 on their back and the same hunger to be better"
Pearce himself is a big fan of Terry, as he revealed in an interview with the BBC recently:
"John Terry never seems to get caught. People say he is not the quickest but he is sharp in the mind. I actually try to base my game on him. I watch him all the time on TV and study his play."
In an interview last month, McDermott insisted that Pearce can 'do better' on the field, and once again expressed his frustration with his ongoing contract situation. He told Sky Sports:
"Obviously I'm frustrated with the contract situation. It's a good offer. He's got to make his mind up. He says he wants to stay and play for me, he has to make his own mind up on that"
In 2012, £4m-rated Pearce received Reading's 'Player of the year' award, but is he good enough to fill the void being left by Jamie Carragher?
If Liverpool end up signing Pearce, let's just hope it's only his footballing ability that's similar to John Terry (!)
Photo: Daily Mail
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Last month, a source close to the the Republic of Ireland defender claimed that Pearce would 'jump at the chance of a move to Anfield', and earlier this week, Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre met with Pearce in a London Hotel. The Daily Mail reported:
"Liverpool have stepped up their pursuit of Reading defender Alex Pearce. Pearce was seen with the club's managing director Ian Ayre in plush Mayfair hotspot Novikov. Pearce could be set for a reunion with former boss Brendan Rodgers".
Contract talks between Pearce and Reading - One of Brendan Rodgers' former clubs - have stalled, and with the 23 year old's contract set to expire this summer, the possibility of a move away looks increasingly likely, and realistically, the only viable reason why Ayre would meet with Pearce is to discuss a potential transfer.
During his time as manager of Reading, Rodgers made Pearce his vice-captain, and he often compared him to Chelsea captain John Terry. For example, in one interview, Rodgers said:
“Alex was outstanding and looked like a mini John Terry out there. He reminds me in a lot of ways of John. They’ve got the same number 26 on their back and the same hunger to be better"
Pearce himself is a big fan of Terry, as he revealed in an interview with the BBC recently:
"John Terry never seems to get caught. People say he is not the quickest but he is sharp in the mind. I actually try to base my game on him. I watch him all the time on TV and study his play."
In an interview last month, McDermott insisted that Pearce can 'do better' on the field, and once again expressed his frustration with his ongoing contract situation. He told Sky Sports:
"Obviously I'm frustrated with the contract situation. It's a good offer. He's got to make his mind up. He says he wants to stay and play for me, he has to make his own mind up on that"
In 2012, £4m-rated Pearce received Reading's 'Player of the year' award, but is he good enough to fill the void being left by Jamie Carragher?
If Liverpool end up signing Pearce, let's just hope it's only his footballing ability that's similar to John Terry (!)
Photo: Daily Mail
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
Someone tweeted that we are not interested in him.
ReplyDeletehttps://mobile.twitter.com/JamesPearceEcho
ReplyDeleteJames Pearce from Liverpool echo said on twitter we are not interested in him despite the photo.
ReplyDeleteSo what? His word is not absolute. A pic is a million times more persuasive. Why woukld Ayre meet with pearce if LFC are not interested? Is it standard practice for a Liverpool-based MD to hang out with rival players in London?
ReplyDeleteSent from Samsung Galaxy Note
-------- Original message --------
Could of bumped into each other who knows!:) but anyway I don't want him to come to liverpool.
ReplyDeleteYea I don't see it happening....Thankfully.
ReplyDeleteHe is a terrible passer, but Rodgers does seem to rate him. Not exactly papa ;)
and also a picture doesnt means he in negotiation .... the venue also not in private i tot which they are other people behind that... i do believe they r meeting each other in some event
ReplyDeleteI sincerely doubt that they would have posed for pics if it really was a secret transfer meeting. Could be anything. Could be coincidence I dunno, but James Pearce is usually very reliable. Maybe there had been talk previously that fell away, Pearce got a better offer elsewhere but remained on good terms, I don't know. Just that with Liverpool's new secret style of doing deals mugging for photos doesn't seem like what they'd do prior to any official announcement.
ReplyDeleteJames Pearce @JamesPearceEcho11h
ReplyDeleteDespite the pic of him with Ian Ayre, I'm told #LFC have absolutely no interest in signing Alex Pearce.
Tony Barrett has confirmed Liverpool are not signing Alex Pearce from Readng. So many reliable pundit so no, while most reliable blogger say yes, juz from a pic
ReplyDeleterogers and some writers from lfc blog must be sent home for good...all they do is trying to bring rubbish from teams like swansea and reading and are writing shit about good players who can not be replaced by the scumbags they propose or wish to bring in-don't bring in cheap quality players...and don't write bullshit about the strength of these cheap kinda players whom they want to bring in lfc....what do rogers and these idiotic writers want next season...to fight the relegation....
ReplyDeleteI have had my picture taken with the PM, doesn't mean I am going to be in his cabinet
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go for him,He'd be decent for the price but not the quality to kick us on
ReplyDeleteIts a very mis-leading title to say LFC are holding talks with him because a picture like this means very little as it seems like they were on a night out or something hell it may well have been the PFA award ceremony,but if they were in talks wouldn't you think it'd be more formal?
ReplyDeleteAll the signs seem to point to his arrival - but he's still got a year on his contract so wouldn't this be blatant "tapping up"?
ReplyDeleteEcho reporter suggested on his twitter feed that there is nothing to it. No explanation, just that LFC and not necessarily signing him.
ReplyDeleteWe need a top class centre back, and Alex Pearce is certainly not of that calibre. With carragher retiring and skrtel and Coates likely to be sold, agger is out only first team CB and he's incredibly injury prone. Kolo toure will not be enough cover. The only CB that fits this policy and we've been linked with are papa or lovren. But we will end up with an unknown signing.
ReplyDeleteI think James Pearce was saying that Liverpool aren't interested in signing him, rather than Alex Pearce.
ReplyDeleteIf you follow JP on twitter, he announces on a daily basis that no Merseyside clubs (he goes through them, one by one) have offered him a contract to play football for them professionally.
He is notoriously bitter about it.
This clearly isn't Ian Ayre.
ReplyDeleteI know that because I watched Being Liverpool (a great documentary guys- if anyone wants to know the REAL ins and outs of a football club, then this is where to go- loads of super cool slo-mo too!) and I distinctly remember Ian Ayre having eyeballs.
If you look carefully at the photo posted here, then you'll notice that the man on the right has no eyeballs.
Also, before some smart-arse says that Ian Ayre might have lost his eyeballs between the filming of Being Liverpool and when this photo was taken, you've got to ask yourself one question- how could an MD sign contracts without having eyes!? He would just end up drawing on the table and all our players' contracts would expire.
Case closed as far as I'm concerned.
You'd hope that we are getting Pearce alongside Papa (or someone of his ilk) rather than instead of him.
ReplyDeleteI'd be very concerned if we just got Pearce and Toure to play centre-half.
That's what I thought!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the man on the left isn't Alex Pearce either. I know this because Alex Pearce wears a blue and white striped football shirt and this guy is clearly not wearing a blue and white striped football shirt.
Case closed.
Seen a report today that liverpool are targeting Mignolet as there prefered GK target.
ReplyDeleteI think we really couldnt go wrong with Mignolet or Begovic but personally id prefer mignolet.
Thoughts?
What's the point? Play Kelly or Wisdom instead!
ReplyDeleteThis is a nothing story. We are not signing Alex Pearce and whoever believes this story need to have their heads read.
ReplyDeletegood cheap potential signing again and all those fans out there thinking we would spend over 10 million on a defender lol
ReplyDeleteI haven't paid any attention to this guy either, but he fits the profile of someone that should be ignored. British clogger that played for a rubbish, relegated team. I don't see anything that suggests "winner" about that.
ReplyDeleteThis has always Liverpool's mistake in previous years (before we started splurging large amounts on average players instead of course...) - buying in a large quantity of "cheap" signings, instead of focusing on slowly bringing in top quality talent, before ending up with a squad-full of mediocre talent.
ReplyDeleteEven if Pearce is considered to be "cheap" in his transfer fee, he'd take up much higher wages than our own reserve players, without offering much more quality on the pitch.
We'd be better off ignoring any such "cheap" bargains (unless they really are just under-valued players) and just trusting our own kids to be such players. All these -£10m signings add up to a lot of money, a lot of wages, and little on pitch improvement
agree i have no problem building slowly one world class player at a time would do ,as long as we keep hold of our best players as well
ReplyDeleteI posted earlier that we should not believe this story but my post was deleted.
ReplyDeleteAll crap I'm afraid.....they met in a local nightclub. Both have said there's nothing in it! None story!
ReplyDeleteSo that video clip shows a centre back who can head the ball !!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a chance meeting that's all,Pearce is crap and there's no way a club looking towards Champions league football (championship maybe) is going to sign him free or not, It's a chance meeting probably at some football charity or something similar.
Put so succinctly and with such logic its impossible to argue against. Love it!
ReplyDelete