Dan Carter

Sun 7 January 2024 9:40, UK

Blackburn will have to offer to pay nearly 100 per cent of Joe Gelhardt’s wages to sign him on loan from Leeds United, according to Alan Nixon.

The journalist reported on his Patreon page on Sunday (7 January) that Rovers are keen on signing the out-of-favour Whites forward on a temporary basis during the January transfer window alongside defender Charlie Cresswell.

However, Leeds will expect their Championship rivals to offer to pay almost the entirety of the 21-year-old’s wages over the course of his stay at Ewood Park, otherwise, they are unlikely to even consider the proposal.

Wait and see

It’s sensible of Leeds United to expect their Championship rivals to pay the majority of Gelhardt’s wages if they want to sign him during the January transfer window. There is little benefit to the Whites in paying a player who is only helping a team you’re competing with.

The 21-year-old isn’t needed at Elland Road this season and has been a bit of a spare part over the course of the first half of the season, only making six appearances in the league, which only two have seen him named in the starting XI.

With Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter, Patrick Bamford and Mateo Joseph all ahead of him in Daniel Farke’s current pecking order, it seems unlikely that Leeds supporters would see too much of him in a White shirt between now and the end of the campaign.

There is little benefit for either party in seeing Gelhardt sit on the bench for the next six months and a loan move away from Elland Road would be ideal for all parties, but it has to be the right switch that will be the best for his development.

Should Blackburn make the right offer and be willing to pay all his wages, Leeds should allow him to depart on loan this month.

In other Leeds United news, Farke has shared a new “emergency” transfer verdict for the January window