Sonny Perkins in danger at Leeds United as Mateo Joseph surges with Chelsea double
Sonny Perkins’ miserable season has taken another hit as Mateo Joseph’s goals in the first team highlighted the former’s Leeds United stagnation this term.
The two young strikers were both in superb form for the Under-21s a year ago, but while one has translated that into climbing the ladder under Daniel Farke the other has arguably gone backwards from where he was in the summer and looks further away than ever.
The Whites boss took his side to Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup on Wednesday (28 February) and came within minutes of pushing Mauricio Pochettino’s side into extra time before Conor Gallagher’s late winner.
But Joseph (20) did his personal prospects no harm at all after putting Leeds United ahead early, and then equalising in the second half of the 3-2 defeat, with his first two senior strikes for the club.
The Spanish-born England youth international looks to have even moved ahead of the ever-unfortunate Joe Gelhardt in the first-team set up, after the latter missed the game entirely due to back spasms according to the manager after the game [Leeds Live, 28 February].
Sonny Perkins left in Leeds United limbo after Oxford United loan failure
But Perkins not being involved was less of a surprise, with his development having stalled this season after a nightmare loan to Oxford United in League One went nowhere, and he was brought back to Thorp Arch early after just three third-tier appearances off the bench totalling only single figures in minutes.
Having also come on as a substitute in the final seconds for Farke in the opener against Cardiff City on 6 August he was ineligible to make a second loan move on January and has been confined back in the Whites Under-21s since.
He has a crowded enough field enough of him as it is, with Georginio Rutter, Joel Piroe and Patrick Bamford all regulars in the promotion push since the start of 2024.
So while Joseph grasping his opportunity in the cup looks like a very positive development from a Leeds United perspective, it appears anything but for Perkins.
Ironically for the former West Ham youngster it is perhaps his first-team appearance at the very start of the campaign that has hurt his chances of further involvement in Farke’s set up the most, with the exit from the FA Cup likely removing the possibility that the German rotates his squad very far from a strong first XI for the rest of the Championship promotion battle.
Perkins has his work cut out now if he is to avoid joining the long list of “emerging talent” acquisitions who have moved on in recent windows without making much of a dent in the first-team, having been sent back to square one after his Oxford move didn’t work while Joseph has caught the eye against Premier League opposition as the next in line.
In other Leeds United news, there may be further pressure on Perkins from below after the club brought in two more attacking talents.
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