Wigan Athletic left-back Tom Pearce is the subject of January transfer interest from Championship outfit Preston North End, according to The Sun's Alan Nixon.

The 23-year-old is out of contract at the DW Stadium at the end of the current season after arriving from Leeds United in 2019.

Leam Richardson and his team are trying to renew Pearce's terms to convince him to remain at the League One high-flyers, but North End's interest may complicate things.

Ryan Lowe seemingly wants a new left-wing-back to compete with Josh Earl and Pearce has been identified as a potential target.

Pearce played just seven times in Wigan's last Championship campaign in 2019-20 and then featured 23 times in League One last season, featuring regularly before suffering a season-ending injury in February.

Having only featured in seven League One matches this season for the Latics with both Tendayi Darikwa and Joe Bennett playing at left-back, as well as James McClean at left-wing-back, Pearce could be heading out of the exit door at Wigan unless they can come to a new agreement on his contract.

The Verdict

On the face of it, North End attempting to sign a League One player who's seemingly struggling for game-time in the third tier of English football would look to be a strange one.

But Pearce was doing great last season until an untimely injury and he's struggled to find his feet this season following his recovery.

A regular run of games at the DW Stadium may have helped but Leam Richardson has gone with other options - that doesn't mean that Pearce is a talent though.

With not long left on his contract and interest from a higher league, Pearce could potentially jump at the opportunity to move to a Championship side but Wigan will desperately try and keep hold of the 23-year-old ex-Leeds man.