49ers Enterprises must force multi-million windfall on Joe Gelhardt in January, future looks bleak at Leeds United
49ers Enterprises can ensure a healthy windfall in the January transfer window by offloading forgotten Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt.
Manager Daniel Farke will be delighted with the form of his attacking stars right now with Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter, Dan James and Crycensio Summerville all exceeding expectations so far this season as the Whites sit 3rd in the Championship.
Gelhardt who was once the talk of Elland Road a few years ago, has seen his opportunities and chances plummet making the excitement around his potential in West Yorkshire disintegrate as a result.
The constant Farke snubs this season have certainly left his career trajectory in serious peril right now, with Gelhardt restricted to just 164 minutes of Championship action this season [Transfermarkt].
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].
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.
Right now, that decision to pen him to a new deal and potentially new and improved wages has proven a waste with the Leeds United forward not even given the minutes to prove his worth, and it’s through no fault of his own.
Richard Garnett, writing on the Daily Express website on 27 November, shared that Gelhardt looks all to seal a loan exit away.
However, The Athletic journalist Phil Hay reported on 10 December that the Whites have no intention of letting him leave in the January window with Farke seeing circumstances in which Gelhardt can play.
That decision could certainly be costing Leeds United with Gelhardt at an age where he needs to be playing games plus he is also a marketable commodity at Elland Road.
If he isn’t playing then there isn’t a need to keep him rotting on the bench and picking up considerable wages which could be spent on strengthening elsewhere.
It’s never nice to see a player who’s been touted to reach unimaginable heights at one point in his career, go on to become an untapped potential later down the line and that’s the journey Gelhardt is heading towards if he doesn’t take the initiative right now.
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 a result of a lack of opportunities and lack of confidence in West Yorkshire.
But for the benefit of all parties in January, they need to part amicably and there may be no better opportunity for the club’s owners to secure a multi-million-pound windfall on the 22-year-old.
In other Leeds United news, the club may still press ahead with legal proceedings against Everton.