Leeds United transfers: ‘Prolific’ striker heads to Thorp Arch
Leeds United are taking former academy product Oakley Cannonier on trial over the coming days, according to The Athletic.
James Pearce’s report on Tuesday (28 January) details that the 20-year-old Liverpool striker, who left Leeds for Merseyside in 2015, is back on a trial basis at Thorp Arch as he is assessed by coaching staff ahead of a potential return, which had been pursued by the Whites in previous years.
Cannonier has been a “prolific” goalscorer in the youth teams at Liverpool but represented the Leeds Under-21 side against West Ham United on Monday (27 January), playing 30 minutes.
The Leeds-born youngster previously made headlines as a ball-boy at Anfield in 2019, when quickly providing Trent Alexander-Arnold with the ball to take his now-iconic corner for Divock Origi against Barcelona, en route to winning the Champions League.
Leeds United could provide second chance for Cannonier
Cannonier made a bold move when he swapped Leeds for Liverpool in 2015, while aged just 11, but injuries have seen his prolific strike rate slow down somewhat.
The ruthless nature of football means it can become easy to get left behind, and a player previously competing in upper age groups from his own has now become frustrated as he finds himself shunned from first-team opportunities in Arne Slot’s flying Liverpool side.
Cannonier has been the returning ghost of Leeds at various youth age groups, including in one game in 2022 during which he scored four for Liverpool in a 10-3 battering which helped earn him a spot training with Jurgen Klopp’s senior squad.
Klopp himself now carries an indirect link with the Whites, having this month begun his role as Head of Global Soccer for key partners Red Bull.
The centre-forward is equally adept with both feet and has a predatory eye for goal with his injuries refusing to be allowed to slow him down.
Cannonier is an England youth international at various levels, most recently the Under-19 side.
In other Leeds news, another 20-year-old forward could be on the move, this time out of Elland Road.
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