“He’s not part of my plans, He got the chance to impress during training and in pre-season but he didn’t shine”- Daniel Farke confirms Leeds player not in his first-team plans after January transfer development
Daniel Farke has confirmed that Sonny Perkins is not in his first-team plans at Leeds United after his loan spell at Oxford United was terminated early.
The forward signed for the League One club on loan in the summer but returned to Elland Road this week after limited game time, and can’t go back out on loan this season due to FIFA rules after featuring for the Whites earlier in the season.
But Farke, speaking in his pre-Peterborough press conference (5 January), confirmed that the youngster is not in his plans after he failed to impress in training before his loan or while he was away.
“Difficult to say. I was too far away and had to concentrate on the lads here, so it is difficult to give a reason,” he said.
“It’s also difficult what will happen right now, at the moment he’s not part of my plans, I spoke about the culture, he was with us in pre-season and got the chance to impress during training and in the few games in pre-season and first competitive games.
“We then decided it’s a bit too soon for him to be involved because he didn’t shine in this period. We then had the option to loan him out and it’s fair to say, if we judge it, he was not able to get game time on League One level and sometimes struggling to make the gameday squad.
“It’s not the solution that he comes back and shines for Leeds United on Championship level when we have even higher demands. It doesn’t work in this way and is the totally wrong sign.
“He’s together with our Under-21s and he has to train and to develop, work on the things he has to improve and yes, he has lots of potential and if he can work consistently he has chances to shine. But, it’s not like after a loan doesn’t work out and you get no game time, you are credited with a position in the first team, it would send totally the wrong sign in terms of the culture we want to create.
“We can just back players and trust them and develop them, but we can just bring them close to the door, they have to make the step through the door.
“This is what we will do, we will work on U21 level with Sonny, give him all the support and trust, work with him to improve and the challenges he has in his game. If he improves he has the chance step by step to be on a higher level, at the moment it is to stay humble and work hard, because if you’re not capable to get any minutes on League One level then it is difficult to shine for us on the level we are.”
When Perkins arrived at Elland Road from West Ham, there were many people who expected him to break into the first team fairly quickly.
He had a brief spell with the squad under Jesse Marsch but quickly fell into obscurity once again and since then has been overtaken by fellow young forward Mateo Joseph in the pecking order.
A loan spell was supposed to get him flowing again and give him a chance to impress, but as Farke says he failed to do that down a division and now it seems almost impossible that he could do it at Leeds this season.
He needs to knuckle down and work hard with the Under-21’s and look to make an impression there, before potentially getting another opportunity under Farke or on loan again next season.
Perkins is still young and super talented, but he needs to start showing it or he could lose his opportunity at Leeds before he ever really got one.
