Daniel Farke confirms Leeds United player not in his plans for first-team after January transfer development
After Sonny Perkins’ loan at Oxford United ended early, Daniel Farke has stated that he is not part of Leeds United’s first team plans.
The forward joined the League One team on loan in the summer, but he only played a few games before returning to Elland Road this week. Because of FIFA regulations, he is not allowed to go out on loan again this season after making appearances for the Whites in the first half of the season.
However, after the young player failed to make an impression in training prior to his loan or while he was abroad, Farke acknowledged that he is not in his plans during his pre-Peterborough press conference on January 5.
Hard to put into words. It’s hard to give an explanation; I was too far away and had to focus on the boys here,” he remarked.
“It’s also tough what will happen right now; he’s not currently in my plans. I mentioned the culture; he was with us during preseason and had the opportunity to make an impression in training, a couple preseason games, and the first competitive games.He didn’t perform well at this time, so we concluded it was a little too soon for him to get involved. Then, we had the choice to loan him out, and if we assess it fairly, we can conclude that he struggled to make the gameday squad and was unable to acquire game time at the League One level.
“His return and his performance for Leeds United at the Championship level when our demands are much higher is not the answer. It is the completely incorrect sign and doesn’t function in this manner.
“He’s training and developing with our Under-21 team, and he needs to focus on the areas that need improvement. He has a lot of potential, and if he can work hard, he will have opportunities to succeed.” However, it wouldn’t be in line with the culture we want to foster if, in the event that a loan doesn’t work out and you are given no playing time, you were given a spot in the first team.
“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.”
Expected
When Perkins arrived to Elland Road from West Ham, a lot of people had assumed he would soon be in the first team.
Under Jesse Marsch, he played for the team for a little while before vanishing once more. Since then, he has fallen behind fellow young forward Mateo Joseph in the standings.
A loan spell was supposed to get him back on the pitch and give him a chance to establish himself, but Farke says he was not able to perform at a high enough level, and it now seems very doubtful that he will be able to do so at Leeds this year.
He needs to focus and work hard with the Under-21 team before he could be given another opportunity under Farke or go on loan again the following season.
Although Perkins is still young and has a lot of promise, he needs to start showing it or he risk losing Leeds before he really has an opportunity.
