Tom Pearce heads out to Scunthorpe on loan

Well, this isn’t shocking news or a shocking departure, but it’s mildly surprising.

Leeds United’s England U20 fullback Tom Pearce appears to be headed out of the club on loan to Scunthorpe. Scunthorpe is currently 14th in the League One table, although they have not lost in their last five matches, picking up four wins and one loss in that time.

Tom Pearce broke onto the scene in the tail end of last year. Along with the emergence of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, it was one of the few bright spots from the dark days of Paul Heckingbottom being in charge of the club.

Pearce also went to the Toulon Tournament with England, where he was joined by the since departed Ronaldo Vieira. Pearce didn’t get nearly the playing time that Vieira did, but seemed to come back from the experience okay.

His days as a potential starter at left back were cut short, however, when Leeds signed Barry Douglas from Wolverhampton. Douglas was brought in after a remarkable season in the Championship, meaning that Pearce had very little chance to get past him in the lineup.

Even with Douglas being out injured a few different times this season, Pearce has not been able to get into the first team, having been injured himself. Stuart Dallas and now Gjanni Alioski have been preferred to Pearce, meaning that despite a number of appearances in the U23s, Pearce did not have much of an opportunity to get more playing time.

Hopefully Pearce can get some time in the first team down the road at Scunthorpe and come back improved. He’s still young enough where playing competitive football outside of the U23s, is a good challenge for him and he’ll be able to learn in a different environment than at his parent club. Good luck Tom!