Birmingham City are said to be in the hunt to sign Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Aynsley Pears – but it could be met with disgruntlement by Blues fans should he sign.
Since moving to Lancashire in 2020, Pears has been in and out of the Rovers team, but in the past year, he has played more than ever. A reliable goalie, he has drawn attention from the Second City team after Thomas Kaminski left for Luton. However, our Birmingham City fan pundit says he would be “underwhelmed” by Pears’ signing.
What Birmingham City’s fan pundit said about Aynsley Pears
Birmingham City supporter Mike Gibbs was adamant in his expectations of Pears, telling Football League World that he might be a lacklustre addition.
“I’d be a little underwhelmed with Aynsley Pears,” he remarked. Since Mowbray signed him in 2020 and never really used him, as you point out, I don’t believe he would be a significant improvement over John Ruddy. Yes, I think we could do better. I would like to see us target a young goalie with a lot of potential who can really develop into the team, but who may have some experience at the parent club or on loan.
“Someone with nice feet would be nice to see. A custodian should be able to stop shots and handle the stick, but we also need someone who can play out from the back and has progressive footwork.
Aynsley Pears transfer news latest
The Sun reports that Birmingham wants to sign Blackburn’s custodian before the start of the following campaign, which will be led by Tony Mowbray.
After just 24 first-team games for the Riverside team, the 25-year-old—who started his career at Middlesbrough at the age of nine—joined Blackburn as a 22-year-old. Pears took a long time to settle in at Ewood Park, but he was occasionally included in the lineup last season to replace Thomas Kaminski. After the Belgian joined newly promoted Luton Town in the summer, it was assumed that Pears would be Jon Dahl Tomasson’s first choice.
Although Pears was dismissed at the beginning of October due to his three games in which he gave up eleven goals, Pears returned to the game at the beginning of February due to Leopold Wahlstedt’s similarly bad play. Since his return, Rovers have only lost twice, giving up eight goals in seven games. This may be one of the reasons Mowbray wants to add him.
Pears’ contract is still good for three years, and if Birmingham can come up with the money, he might go in the summer.
Would Aynsley Pears be a good signing for Birmingham City?
John Ruddy has been an excellent custodian for a number of years, but it is very uncommon to find a custodian who stays in the first squad above the age of 37.
By the time the season arrives, Ruddy will be approaching his 38th birthday, and after making 31 appearances so far, he has established a record for himself.
Even though he may not be as good as Ruddy, Pears, who is only 25 years old, still has chance to improve, and that might happen at Birmingham, giving Wahlstedt the opportunity to wear the first team uniform at Ewood Park.
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