Leeds United are set to complete the signing of Sonny Perkins in the coming days after the teenager rejected a new deal at West Ham United. The London club are set to receive a fee in-line with FA regulations, which state compensation must be paid to a club when an under-24 player rejects a new deal before moving on.
Both clubs have entered talks in a bid to find an arrangement - similar to the deal Burnley and Leeds struck when a 23-year-old Charlie Taylor moved on from West Yorkshire - but if their valuations differ, the matter could go to a tribunal.
Perkins left the London Stadium last month, with the Hammers announcing his departure alongside a scathing statement saying they are ‘extremely disappointed’ and that they ‘strongly believed’ another club had convinced him to terminate his contract. Leeds deny any wrongdoing.
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The 18-year-old will become the seventh signing of the summer, with the compensation fee taking this window's spending close to, if not over, £100million. But, with just one Premier League appearance to his name - against Leeds in January - Perkins’ exact role within the club is up for debate.
Far from a regular first-team player, it is expected that the former Hammer will arrive at West Yorkshire with a similar stature to that of Darko Gyabi, the ex-Manchester City midfielder who signed for £5million in a separate - but simultaneous - deal to the sale of Kalvin Phillips. Both excelled in the Premier League 2 last season for their previous clubs, with neither likely to benefit from a step down to the second division of youth football.
Gyabi impressed during the second-half of the win against Brisbane Roar on Thursday and is seen by Whites boss Jesse Marsch as part of the first-team squad. Perkins’ stature is likely to be similar, but competition for actual minutes within that squad is fierce, especially in the ex-West Ham man’s roles.
There is debate as to whether the teenager is being brought in as a striker or an attacking midfielder, but the truth is he can play across Marsch’s front-four. Nevertheless, Leeds already have a host of future stars including Crysencio Summerville, Sam Greenwood and a certain Joe Gelhardt as well as the more seasoned pros.
Breaking into that first-team regularly will be no mean feat, but there is obviously something attracting Perkins - on the cusp of senior minutes at a European competition-chasing club - to West Yorkshire. Maybe it is the fact that Leeds last season gave debuts to eight teenagers, or maybe it is the pathway forged by the likes of Gelhardt and Greenwood, who will almost certainly become increasingly prominent next season.
Perkins does not lack confidence when it comes to such matters, and he will not settle for a season in the under-21s. Added competition is by no means a bad thing.
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