Des Buckingham insists it was a “timing issue” that kept Sonny Perkins out of his Oxford United side, not an issue with attitude or training.
Sonny Perkins arrived on loan from Leeds United this summer but was limited to just five league minutes for the U’s this season. The 19-year-old made his last appearance against Cheltenham Town in late November, coming off the bench for the last two minutes of the match.
Perkins was only included in the matchday squad in the league on three occasions, all of which he received a cameo role late in the game. The Championship loanee did however manage to find himself a goal in a 5-0 victory over Chelsea U21s in the EFL Trophy, despite only playing 168 minutes all season.
His parent club recalled Perkins on Wednesday after the opening of the January transfer window.
The promising attacker made his way to West Yorkshire on a free transfer from West Ham in 2022 and has since impressed in the Premier League 2, winning the August 2022 Pl2 Player of the Month award and picking up eleven goals and three assists in just 18 matches. This earned the youngster six appearances for the England U19s, where he found the back of the net five times.
Speaking, via the Oxford Mail, about the recalling of his loanee, Oxford United boss Buckingham explained:
“He’s trained extremely well and been very good around the group, I think that’s important to stress.
“But when you’ve got Mark Harris and Gatlin O’Donkor… it’s been very difficult for him to get game time, and I spoke with him about that.
On the future plans for his club and Perkins, the 38-year-old manager said:
“It’s important for his development that he gets games. It’s a timing thing for me. I can’t speak for what was before, but it wasn’t the right thing to do, to throw him and have a look at whether he can or can’t.
“I haven’t had a pre-season with him or the time to work with him and see him… it’s better for his development to go back and get games, whether that’s at Leeds or somewhere else.
“It allows us another loan move to go and look at a player where we may need somewhere else.”
Buckingham’s side travel to Coventry in the FA Cup 3rd round as they look to continue to focus on the league and the play-off places. Meanwhile, Leeds visit League One side Peterborough United where perhaps Perkins will be looking for an opportunity to impress, scoring a last-minute equaliser in last year’s third round to force a replay versus Cardiff.
Writer’s View
The deal made sense for all parties, as neither of the clubs nor the player would want him sitting around not playing.
Whether Leeds choose to send him out on loan once again or continue his development at Elland Road will be interesting to see, with Mateo Joseph, Joe Gelhardt and Patrick Bamford already fighting for Georginio Rutter’s place up front under Daniel Farke.
