Six months ago, Lucas Perri was the delight of Olympique Lyonnais. Arriving from Botafogo to succeed Anthony Lopes, the Brazilian goalkeeper quickly established himself in the Rhone cages. But faced with serious financial difficulties, OL had to resolve to sell him painfully for around €15 million, to Leeds United. Almost forgotten in Lyon thanks to the good performances of Dominik Greif, the 28-year-old Brazilian is, however, experiencing a much more complicated adventure in the Premier League.
From the start of the season, Lucas Perri was not unanimous among the Peacocks. “I have the feeling that every time the goalkeeper has the ball at his feet, something can happen. I almost feel like it’s taking too long, crazy time. He lets opponents get too close for me to feel reassured, and I’m not even a Leeds fan.summarized Jamie Carragher. An opinion widely shared by some of the club’s supporters.
Lucas Perri lost his place
Critics quickly gained momentum, in the press and on social networks, until they reached the internal level. Starting at the start of the season, Lucas Perri played 16 Premier League matches, for three clean sheets, 38 saves and 29 goals conceded. But as the weeks went by, his form was considered more and more disappointing by his trainer Daniel Farke, who criticized him in particular for his inconsistency, a sometimes risky restart and a percentage of saves among the lowest in the championship (only José Sá, at Wolverhampton, is worse).
Currently 16th and facing the threat of a return to the relegation zone, Daniel Farke ended up making a strong decision regarding his goalkeeper. “It’s always a delicate situation, and I have enormous respect for Lucas. It’s difficult for him: he arrived relatively late in pre-season, got injured, played a few matches, then got injured again.explained the Peacocks manager, who chose to sideline him since the match against Fulham (on January 17), in favor of Karl Darlow.
Already a candidate for departure this summer
“We are in the Premier League and we need a good goalkeeper. Otherwise, we cannot maintain ourselves. We simply felt that, in recent weeks, his performances were perhaps not up to our expectations at this level. There is always pressure and, with Karl, we had a reliable and solid goalkeeper, who was fantastic for us last season.Farke added in early January. A decision which created competition with Darlow, himself far from being impeccable during his last five starts, notably against Chelsea (2-2).
From then on, the future of Lucas Perri is dotted. This winter, the Daily Mail revealed that Besiktas had expressed an interest in recruiting the former OL goalkeeper, without success, Leeds having rejected a first approach. According to several local media, the English club would consider recruiting a new top goalkeeper this summer if they remain in the Premier League, especially if Perri were to permanently lose his place. And even in the event of relegation to the Championship, the situation would not look more favorable for the Brazilian, definitely stuck in a very complicated period.
