‘No surprise if they moved on’ – James Pearce hints at two potential Liverpool exits this week | OneFootball

James Pearce has said it ‘would be no surprise’ if two Liverpool players in particular were to leave the club before the end of the summer transfer window.

There were a couple of notable omissions from Andoni Iraola’s matchday squad for his first official game in charge against Newcastle on Sunday, with no place in the starting XI or even on the bench for Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa.

The two attackers have been touted for potential exits from Anfield for some time, and speculation will inevitably be fuelled by them having no part to play in the 2-2 draw at St James’ Park.

Pearce hints that Elliott and Chiesa could leave Liverpool

In an article for The Athletic reflecting upon yesterday’s match, Pearce hinted that the Liverpool duo could viably depart the club before next Tuesday’s transfer deadline after they were overlooked by Iraola for the trip to Tyneside.

He wrote: ‘With Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott not even making the bench against Newcastle, it would be no surprise if they moved on in the remaining eight days of the window.’

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Prospective suitors could be emboldened after St James’ Park snub

Fabrizio Romano claimed in recent days that the Italian forward has been nursing a minor ‘physical issue’ and isn’t necessarily ‘on his way out’ of Liverpool, but the 28-year-old’s omission on Sunday seemed telling.

Chiesa and Elliott – who were part of our Premier League-winning squad just two seasons ago – were snubbed in favour of Lewis Koumas, who came on for his top-flight debut and just his second competitive Reds appearance yesterday.

While we’re all for seeing the Welsh youngster in action, that context highlights just how far down the pecking order the men wearing numbers 14 and 19 appear to be, with Iraola preferring to trust in youth (James McConnell and Trey Nyoni were unused substitutes at St James’ Park).

Any prospective suitors for Chiesa and/or Elliott may have been encouraged by their omissions on Sunday and sufficiently emboldened to test the waters with an offer for one or both of the attackers in the coming days.

It’s quite plausible that either or both of them could leave before the deadline on Tuesday week, but with Liverpool not exactly overflowing with squad depth right now, we certainly wouldn’t be shepherding either of them out the door.

It shouldn’t be forgotten just how impactful both of them can be (and have been) off the bench for us in the past, even if neither of them would want to be typecast in the role of ‘supersub’.