Early January decision at Leeds United could pave the way for two potential exits: View | OneFootball

Leeds United have decided to recall Sonny Perkins from his loan spell at Oxford United.

This isn't a major surprise considering Perkins found game time hard to come by at the Kassam Stadium.

This is a tragedy considering his move to the U's looked like such a good opportunity on paper.

And he could have been a major success for the League One outfit, with the club doing extremely well during the early stages of the campaign under Liam Manning, who is now at Bristol City.

They have had a fairly mixed time under his successor Des Buckingham - but the U's have still played well under their current boss and will still have hopes of securing promotion to the Championship.

Perkins wasn't a huge part of Oxford's success during the first half of the season though, making just six appearances in all competitions for the club.

He scored once against Chelsea U21s in the EFL Trophy - but only made small cameos in most of his other games and that's a key reason why he only had one goal to his name for Buckingham's men.

A change of manager could have marked a fresh start for Perkins - but he wasn't in favour under Buckingham either.

Sonny Perkins can't go out on loan again this season

Perkins appeared against Cardiff City on the opening day of the season and that means he has already appeared for two clubs this term.

Because of this, he is unable to go out on loan again and that means he will be forced to remain with Daniel Farke's team for the remainder of the campaign.

This isn't the worst outcome for the Whites.

With Georginio Rutter operating as a number 10 at times and the Whites not fully strengthening their striker department during the summer window, having an extra forward option is ideal and Perkins can also operate as a winger if required.

He won't be upset if he isn't starting every week either - and that can only be a good thing for the sake of harmony.

The 19-year-old barely won any game time at the Kassam Stadium, so any minutes he gets on the pitch at Elland Road has to be seen as a bonus.

Sonny Perkins recall could allow Joe Gelhardt and Mateo Joseph to depart

With Perkins back, Patrick Bamford getting into better form and Joel Piroe and Rutter also able to play up top, the Whites now have a decent number of forward options.

Joe Gelhardt and/or Mateo Joseph could become surplus to requirements because of this though - although that isn't necessarily a bad thing for both the players and the Whites.

Loan moves could be sanctioned for the pair and that will allow them to secure more game time, which should help their development.

Considering their ages, they have the potential to get much better and there's no doubt that teams would be prepared to take the pair if they become available.

Gelhardt, in particular, has been the subject of transfer speculation for a while and it hasn't died down recently, with Alan Nixon recently reporting that Blackburn Rovers remain keen on him.