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Joe Gelhardt should beg Daniel Farke to let him quit Leeds United for good in January, career in serious jeopardy
Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt has swiftly become an unfortunate afterthought at Elland Road and he may beg Daniel Farke to let him quit Elland Road for good in January.
The German will be delighted with the form of his attacking stars right now with the likes of Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter, Dan James and Crycensio Summerville all exceeding expectations so far this season as the Whites sit 5th in the Championship.
However, Gelhardt who was at one point the talk of Elland Road a few years ago, has now considerably morphed into a forgotten man as a result and the constant Farke snubs has certainly left his career trajectory in serious peril.
The former on-loan Sunderland star enjoyed a fair run of games to start out the campaign back in the English second division, featuring in all of their first four games, registering just one goal in the EFL Cup win over Shrewsbury [SofaScore].
It’s been a mixed time for Gelhardt since he arrived at Elland Road from Wigan Athletic three years ago after breaking onto the scene with some impressive performances for the Lancashire club and emerging as one of the hottest prospects outside of the Premier League.
He is one of a number of young English talents the Whites have scooped up in recent years in the hope that they could one day play a major role in the first team in the future.
The club showed last year that they believe in Gelhardt’s potential after handing him a new five-year contract that will run until the summer of 2027 and even handing him a promising loan at Sunderland which ultimately proved rather unfruitful.
On his return to Leeds, he was linked with a permanent move back to the Stadium of Light but that never materialised.
Italian side Lecce were surprisingly also credited with an interest in the forward during the summer as there was a belief that he could “explode” if he was given the right opportunity.
However, he remained at Elland Road with a view to finally making his mark in Farke’s new and finally improved squad but after starting the Whites’ first four games, he’s now become an afterthought.
As a result, it is difficult to see when Gelhardt will feature as a starter at Elland Road which means these next few months could well be a very tough one for him, especially with Patrick Bamford now fit.
That could push him further down Farke’s thinking and it won’t be a surprise to see Gelhardt beg the German to allow him to leave, on loan at least in order to kick-start his career again.
It’s so unfortunate to see a player as talented as Gelhardt fall so gracefully in such a short time and that’s certainly been as a result of a lack of opportunities and lack of confidence.
How quickly things change in a young player’s career after an impressive breakthrough, and in Gelhardt’s case, it seems as if he is stuck between a rock and a hard place at Elland Road.
He’s got to do what’s best for him and that means demanding a possible January exit if these snubs continue.
In other Leeds United news, one summer Elland Road-linked player shared why he rejected the chance to join after a multi-million deal was agreed.