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On Monday, ahead of flying out for their pre-season tour, Liverpool confirmed their 31-player squad that will travel with Andoni Iraola for a trio of pre-season fixtures in the United States. The Reds will face Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds United.
In terms of goalkeepers, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, Vítězslav Jaroš and Harvey Davies are the quartet who will be on the plane, with the name Ármin Pécsi absent, but it has since become apparent why. As reported by Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo, the 21 year old "is close to agreeing a season-long loan" move to Austrian Bundesliga side TSV Hartberg.
Pécsi joined Liverpool from Puskás Akadémia for £1.3 million last summer, but is yet to make a first team appearance, so will be hoping this move to Austria is a key step forward in his career.
Ármin Pécsi's Liverpool ambitions
Speaking to the club's official website last week, the goalkeeper discussed his ambitions of playing for Liverpool's first team one day:
I really feel settled. It was a lot different when I came on my first day... it was good to be back. I know everybody now so it really different... the most important is to get back into shape and improve and also show myself on the training pitch.
Last season, Pécsi was on the bench for five senior matches, these coming against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, as well as for league games against Aston Villa, Everton, Palace again and Manchester United. His action though came for the under-21s, featuring in 17 Premier League 2 fixtures, conceding 32 times and keeping just four clean sheets.
Why should Liverpool fans be excitied about Ármin Pécsi?
During the June international break, Pécsi earned his senior international cap, coming off the bench for the final half an hour of Hungary's 3-1 friendly victory over Kazakhstan at Nagyerdei Stadion. This was almost certainly the biggest moment of his young career thus far, and he agrees:
It was a really proud moment for me and my family as well. It gave me a big, big motivation... I think that was the highlight of the off-season. I think it gave me a lot. It was my first camp with the first team of Hungary, so I was really happy to make my debut.
Meantime, after he made the move from Puskás Akadémia, their President and sporting director Balázs Tóth asserted that the goalkeeper has a "beautiful future ahead of him", adding "we have seen year after year during our work that he is a very talented player".
Pécsi did feature 52 times for Puskás Akadémia at senior level, including starting both legs of a Conference League qualifier against Fiorentina, as well as appearing in 30 matches during the 2024/25 Nemzeti Bajnokság campaign. So, perhaps he might just have a future at Anfield one day.
What should Ármin Pécsi expect at TSV Hartberg?
Pécsi's new employers TSV Hartberg finished sixth in last season's Austrian Bundesliga, thereby missing out on European qualification by just one spot. This though is a respectable finish for a club who were only promoted to the top division for the first time ever in 2018, their best season coming in 2020/21 when they ended up fourth.
Well, they were in the market for a new goalkeeper because first-choice Tom Ritzy Hülsmann, who played all bar two Bundesliga matches last season, has been sold to Stade de Reims for around €2.5 million. Thus, expect Pécsi to arrive as number one, which is ideal for his development. Hartberg begin the new Austrian Bundesliga season away at serial champions RB Salzburg on Saturday 1 August, so the Liverpool youngster will be thrown in at the deep end.
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This article was originally published on rushthekop.com as Liverpool youngster with "beautiful future ahead of him" set to complete loan move.
