West Ham United must not let Sonny Perkins leave for Premier League rivals
West Ham United have one of the best academies in the entire country but they risk losing one of their most promising assets this summer.
According to The Athletic, Leeds United are very keen on signing 18-year-old striker Sonny Perkins to bolster their Under-23 squad which has already seen a number of players promoted to the first team.
The Whites have had to rely on fellow youngsters Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood to lead the line towards the end of the season with Patrick Bamford injured which is a large reason why they are keen to add more bodies to their attacking repertoire.
Perkins has already played for David Moyes’ senior team having featured in the Irons’ last Europa League group game at home to Dinamo Zagreb along with a few substitute appearances scattered throughout the second half of the campaign.
It’s youth football though which is where the teenager has really shone having scored 17 goals in all competitions for the Hammers’ Under-23s and Under-18s even though he has often played slightly deeper in the team to accommodate Armstrong Okoflex as the main striker.
That versatility and the ability to keep producing big numbers is a very hard asset to find so they really need to keep him around the place and get him some game time next season.
Whether that be at the London Stadium or out on loan in a lower division can be decided nearer the start of the campaign but he can’t keep playing academy football for his entire career.
Equally, he can’t afford to be allowed to join a divisional rival at any cost because he clearly has that spark you need to be a Premier League player otherwise Leeds wouldn’t be interested in the first place.
In other West Ham news, Stuart Pearce has been waxing lyrical about his former boss Moyes and the job he’s done at West Ham in such a short space of time.
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