Transfer Gossip: Liam Moore to come in on loan?

It's that time again where we look at potential targets for Neil Lennon this summer. It's also a time where I pretend to have a counter argument to what seems like a no-brainer. But here goes.

This week, Wanderers have been linked with Leicester City and England Under-21 defender Luke Moore of Leicester City. Moore is now 22 years old, and is recently preparing for the European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic, beating Tottenham's Eric Dier to the final cut. He has made 12 appearances thus far for the Under-21s, scoring in England's 2-1 away win over Croatia, which sealed the Young Lions' place in the finals this summer. Unsurprisingly, the goal came from a corner, but strangely for a centre half, it was a well taken volley. Well favoured by former England centre half and current Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate, Moore is expected to challenge John Stones (Everton) and Michael Keane (Burnely) amongst others for a place in Southgate's starting line-up this summer.

At club level, Moore has had somewhat of a disappointing season. Football hipsters were clamouring last year over which one first claimed he would one day be England captain (although I maintain I was the first to say this about Gary Cahill). He was a mainstay in Leicester's back four in their Championship title winning team in the 2013-14 season, but was limited to only 11 appearances this time out. Nigel Pearson's declaration this morning that he wants to continue to bolster his defence despite guaranteeing the permanent signature of Robert Huth from Stoke City suggests that Moore's role in the Leicester City squad will continue to be bit-part.

Leeds United have also been linked with a move for Moore. However, when one Twitter fan congratulated him on signing for Leeds last week, he replied with "when did I sign?", followed by an emoji. As both a dinosaur and staunch opponent to cartoon faces appearing on tweets/text messages/anywhere, I won't post it. But he was laughing. And crying. Then again, signing for Leeds would be equally hilarious and terrifying. The poor lad.

He may also interest Brentford, who he made 3 appearances for between February and April of last season. Nigel Pearson decided to enact a 28-day recall clause in his loan deal, which saw Moore jump out of the frying pan and onto the home bench at the King Power Stadium.

I can't really see a reason why we shouldn't do all we can to get a player like Moore in - he's young, talented, and not Dorian Dervite. However, in a quest to find the goold old counter argument, I've settled for our old friend finances - if we can't afford £10,000 a week for Wigan legend Craig Morgan, can we really afford Moore's Premier League wages? Probably not. But here's hoping.