According to The Athletic, Sonny Perkins will leave West Ham when his contract expires this week.
The 18-year-old is a rather highly-rated prospect in the Hammers’ academy, but sadly for the London club, they’ve not done enough to convince him to stick around.
Perkins will be free of his West Ham contract at the end of the month, and with Leeds United reportedly circling, it may not be long until he finds himself a new club.
However, while he’s leaving West Ham upon the expiry of his contract, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be a free transfer for Leeds.
Indeed, when moving domestically, Bosman rules don’t apply in the same way for players under the age of 24 in England. Meaning that Leeds would have to compensate West Ham for Perkins paying what is perceived to be a fair market value.
Perhaps the most high-profile example of this was Liverpool’s move for Harvey Elliott which saw the Reds pay Fulham £4.3m despite signing Elliott as an unattached 16-year-old.
Now, Perkins isn’t as highly-rated as Elliott was, so this shouldn’t cost Leeds too much if they want to sign him, but if West Ham are unwilling to come to an agreement with the Whites, this may end up going to a tribunal where a fee will be decided by the PFCC.
On occasion, these scenarios have seen players price themselves out of a move. Celtic’s Matt O’Riley was a free agent for months after leaving Fulham as his compensation package put a number of teams off any potential deal, but with Leeds having Premier League money to spend, getting Perkins shouldn’t be too tough of a task.
The player is there for the taking if Leeds United want him.
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