Leeds United are confident Lucas Perri will be their first-choice goalkeeper next season as discussions with Lyon head towards a conclusion.
The 6ft 5in Brazilian only had one season in France’s top flight, but Daniel Farke has seen enough to give the pursuit a green light.
A private flight is scheduled to arrive near United’s Germany training camp from Lyon on Thursday evening. Perri, 27, would be the seventh arrival of the summer and follow hot on the heels of Germany international Anton Stach, who linked up with the squad on Sunday night.
After a difficult season for Illan Meslier, which resulted in Farke replacing him with Karl Darlow for the campaign’s final seven matches, a new goalkeeper was a priority for Leeds this summer. Robin Zentner at Mainz was another stopper they liked, but Perri, who played 33 Ligue 1 games last term, has emerged as the first choice.
If the deal is promptly concluded, the new goalkeeper will hope to figure in the second friendly of the club’s Germany camp this week. Beyond that, there is next weekend’s Elland Road clash with Villarreal.
Lyon, meanwhile, agreed a deal to sign United States international goalkeeper Matt Turner from Nottingham Forest in early June, though that move appeared to stall after the Ligue 1 club were provisionally relegated for financial irregularities, before being reinstated in the top-flight earlier this month.
Analysis
This is one of the two reinforcements Leeds have to get right this summer. If they are to stay in the Premier League next term, the club knew someone to keep goals out and someone to put goals in were of paramount importance.
Central defence has already been bolstered with the arrivals of Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, but Perri will ultimately be expected to make the saves which keep the team in games next season. At 6ft 5in, he has the required height, while his statistics at Lyon were decent last season.
Across his 33 league appearances, Perri was expected to concede 47.8 goals, according to expected goal (xG) data from FBref. However, he actually conceded 44 times, showing he actively prevented 3.8 goals for his side.
More impressively, though in a far inferior competition, Perri conceded just 36 goals from an expected tally of 48.1 in Brazil’s 2023 Serie A for Botafogo. Lyon picked him up after that for the 2024-25 season and now he moves on again to the Premier League after one year in France.
(Photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)