Leeds submit bid for winger who wants to join them instead of relegated rival, pushing existing star down another league
Leeds are trying to sign Joseph Paintsil and loan out Sonny Perkins
Leeds United have made an offer to Genk for their Ghanaian winger Joseph Paintsil, according to reports – while Sonny Perkins is set to leave the club on loan.
It is becoming a busy end to the summer transfer window for Leeds. They have recently secured the signing of Joel Piroe from Swansea City and are now aiming to wrap up a deal for Nadiem Amiri from Bayer Leverkusen.
According to The Athletic, the next target they have bid for is Paintsil, who has already turned down the chance to sign for Southampton in a swap deal with Paul Onuachu.
In contrast, Paintsil is open to joining Leeds and could easily agree personal terms with them if their offer is accepted. They have put a package worth €10m (£8.6m) on the table for Genk to consider.
The Belgian side have Paintsil under contract until 2026 and were yet to respond to the Leeds offer by the time the news of it being submitted filtered through.
As an added incentive, Leeds would let Genk have a sell-on clause in the deal for Paintsil.
The 25-year-old has been a Genk player since 2018. He spent the 2020-21 season on loan at Ankaragucu in Turkey and previously had spells with Tema Youth in his native Ghana and Ferencvaros in Hungary.
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Capped five times by his country, he now has the chance to play in England for the first time with Leeds.
The squad that Daniel Farke will be looking to win promotion with already looks a lot different to the one that went down under Sam Allardyce. Leeds have also been resisting interest in attackers such as Luis Sinisterra and Wilfried Gnonto, and even though Farke now thinks both will stay, it appears they are ready to invest further in their frontline.
Leeds letting Perkins leave on loan
Meanwhile, Leeds are ready to offload one of their own attacking options on a temporary basis.
The Athletic has also revealed that Sonny Perkins will be leaving Leeds to join Oxford United on loan for a season in League One.
Perkins has found first-team opportunities hard to come by since joining Leeds from West Ham last summer. A campaign developing in the third tier could make him more useful for the future, though.
When he returns at the end of the season, there would be one year remaining on Perkins’ contract.
