Aston Villa, Leeds and Tottenham tussle for West Ham’s Sonny Perkins

Aston Villa, Leeds and Tottenham are battling to sign Sonny Perkins, with the promising young forward increasingly likely to leave West Ham because of a disagreement over his wage demands.

The 18-year-old striker made three appearances in all competitions for David Moyes’s side last season and underlined his potential by scoring 12 goals at under-23 level. However, West Ham are struggling to convince Perkins to sign a new deal, with his contract set to expire at the end of this month, and the uncertainty has caught the attention of other Premier League clubs.

Leeds were quick to bolster their academy by signing promising young players from their rivals. They bought the 20-year-old striker Joe Gelhardt from Wigan in 2020 and the 19-year-old midfielder Lewis Bate from Chelsea last year. They are trying to lure Perkins away from West Ham, though there is also interest from Spurs and Villa.

Perkins made his senior debut off the bench during West Ham’s victory over Rapid Vienna in the Europa League last November. He then made his full debut against Dinamo Zagreb and has made one substitute appearance in the Premier League. He is rated highly and has featured for England at youth level, but West Ham believe Perkins is asking for too much money and are unlikely to break their wage structure to keep him.