In recent times we've lost our captain to lesser clubs like Coventry (Gary McAllister) and Man Utd (Rio Ferdinand)! Is history about to repeat itself with Jason Pearce?
Sheffield United are apparently keen to take Whites' skipper Pearce down the M1 with sources close to Nigel Clough quoted as saying he is trying to capitalise on the seemingly eternal turmoil at Elland Road and capture the former Bournemouth and Portsmouth centre-back.
Although I'd agree we are in need of trimming down our squad following 12 new arrivals, central-defence isn't really an area of the squad we over-blessed with talent in. We've recently added Liam Cooper to our ranks and Giuseppe Bellusci, however the Italian picked up an automatic three-match ban for his sending off during the 4-1 drubbing at Watford on Saturday.
If Pearce was to leave then it would leave just the two new-signings and Scott Wootton as recognised centre-halves and like most Leeds fans, I hope we've seen the last of Wootton following his shocker in the opener at Millwall.
Other more preferable candidates for the exit door in my opinion would be Michael Tongue, David Norris and Rudy Austin, yes Rudy Austin! I'm surprised that Noel Hunt is still on the payroll and think that the writing is on the wall for Dominic Poleon who recently took to twitter to vent his frustrations and seemed quite gloomy about his prospects when I spoke to him briefly after the victory over Middlesbrough.
I'd like to dismiss the Pearce speculation as nonsense but the way things are at ER at the moment anything could happen! If Sheffield do make a silly offer for him then let's hope we've got a decent, proven replacement lined-up for him rather than some unknown player from Italy's Serie B!