Leeds United fringe player Sonny Perkins completes loan move to Oxford United

The 19-year-old will spend the duration of the 2023/24 campaign with the U’s, making the same move his Leeds teammate Lewis Bate did last season.

Perkins arrived at Elland Road from West Ham United last year and has since made four first-team appearances for the Whites.

He scored his first goal for the club in January, when he stepped off the bench to score a late equaliser in the FA Cup against Cardiff City.

His new club have enjoyed a promising start to the current League One campaign, picking up three wins and a draw across their first four games.

He will be working under Oxford’s head coach Liam Manning, a former academy coach at West Ham.

Loans were not used as a way to develop young talents regularly during the reign of Marcelo Bielsa, who preferred to keep prospects under his watch.

Since the Argentine’s departure, however, Leeds have loaned out numerous players on the fringes of the senior squad.

Examples include Charlie Cresswell, who spent last season at Millwall, and Joe Gelhardt, who ended the 2022/23 campaign at Sunderland.