Should Garbutt’s struggles put Leeds’ Tom Pearce off Everton return?

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Leeds United defender Tom Pearce is reportedly set to be offered the chance to return to Everton in the summer.

Having spent more than a decade on Everton’s books before ending up at Leeds United, Tom Pearce would be forgiven for seriously considering taking up the chance to return to Goodison Park in the summer.

The Sun on Sunday (13/05; page 63) reports that the Toffees are keen to offer Pearce the opportunity to return to Merseyside four years after they allowed him to leave before he made the switch to Elland Road.

With Leeds, Pearce has established himself as a potential star of the future. After a run of superb performances in the under-23s, the 20-year-old was given his first-team chance as Laurens De Bock desperately struggled with form and fitness. And while Leeds’ season ended in largely disappointing fashion, there were more than enough glimpses that suggest that the left-back is a serious talent.

Transfermarkt shows that he is out of contract in the summer, so Leeds could be unable to prevent the defender from leaving if Everton do come calling. But perhaps Luke Garbutt’s fortunes since heading to Goodison Park could give Leeds a chance of tempting Pearce to snub a potential move.

Garbutt swapped Elland Road for Goodison Park in 2009, before he had broken into Leeds’ first-team. There have certainly been points during the 24-year-old’s time with Everton where he has looked to have the potential to hold down a first-team role in future, but his career appears to have stalled in recent years.

He surely would have expected to make more than five Premier League appearances by the time he was within touching distance of his 25th birthday.

Pearce could have a lot of potential, but his first few appearances for Leeds suggests that he is still some way off being ready to be the Toffees’ first-choice left-back – it is not clear whether he will be the Whites’ first-choice next term if he stays – and that could make it more likely that he may become a forgotten man back at Goodison Park just as Garbutt appears to have become.

Pearce’s form this term suggests that he has the potential to do much better at Everton than Garbutt has done if he decides to make the move. But perhaps the Toffees man’s fortunes should tempt Pearce to sign a new deal at Leeds and establish himself in the Whites’ first-team before he considers potentially making the step up.