Phil Hay hails ‘presence’ of Leeds United breakout star Joe Gelhardt
At 19 years of age, Joe Gelhardt has already won over the hearts of many Leeds United fans in his short career in Yorkshire.
He breezed through the Under-23 level and has become an important player in Marcelo Bielsa’s first-team squad amid the injury crisis at Elland Road.
The Athletic’s Phil Hay singled out Gelhardt for particular praise after his seamless transition from youth football to the Premier League.
“A handful of Premier League games is all it has taken for Elland Road to think that Gelhardt is the answer on any day or in any circumstances, a footballer whose presence changes the tone,” Hay said.
“The reaction to him appearing in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Burnley was a juxtaposition between someone with so little experience being treated like the second coming.”
High Praise, High Ceiling
A perennial goal-getter is an admirable asset at every level of football and they often cost a pretty penny in the Premier League.
Not for Leeds though, they have a natural-born poacher in their ranks already and they have started to reap the rewards.
The Whites took advantage of Wigan Athletic’s financial struggles in 2020 to purchase Gelhardt for as little as £1million even though it seemed a steep fee at the time for someone who had just one Championship goal to his name for the Latics.
But the club knew he had talent beyond that singular second division goal and took a huge gamble on him anyway and they are thankful they did.
In his handful of Premier League games, he has rattled the cages of some of the league’s best defenders and topped off his super start for the Whites by scoring away a Stamford Bridge.
The return from injury of Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo might lessen the number of minutes Gelhardt gets but he has certainly put himself in contention for places and wormed his way onto the Elland Road fan favourite list.
In other Leeds United news, an update has been provided on one of Marcelo Bielsa’s January targets.