The Leeds United squad are keen on ensuring that they remain focused and grounded whilst everyone talks up their chances of earning promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season. The club will have several decisions to make on players if they get promoted. A few players will be moved on to make space for better quality but the club will also have to make a call on certain young players who are trying to catch their eye on loan at the moment. One such top young talent will return to Leeds in the summer but whether he has a long-term future at Elland Road, remains to be seen.
The Whites have a tradition of giving young players a chance and Archie Gray’s rise from the academy to Premier League football is a testament to the club’s ethos of providing an opportunity to youngsters.
However, in recent years several young players have struggled to get into the team as Leeds have continued to either fight for survival in the Premier League or get promoted to the top flight.
Daniel Farke has been forced to focus on experienced players who can help Leeds get back up in the last couple of seasons and that has led to a few young players getting a hard deal at Elland Road.
Joe Gelhardt is one of the players who struggled at Leeds in the last couple of years and he eventually moved on from Elland Road on loan to join Hull City in the last winter transfer window.
I needed to leave Leeds United to become a better player and get more football – Joe Gelhardt
When Leeds decided against signing a striker last summer it seemed Gelhardt would be allowed to shine following a loan spell at Sunderland last season.
However, he failed to convince Farke and made just two substitute appearances in the Championship before he was loaned out to Hull in the winter window.
The striker struggled to get game time under the Leeds manager and there are question marks whether he will have a long-term future at Elland Road.
However, Gelhardt conceded that Leeds have some great players in their squad so he had little to do but to wait for his opportunity to leave Elland Road for minutes.
He stressed that to get better he needs to play more football and he is enjoying the feeling of getting ready for games on matchday again at Hull.
“There are top, top players at Leeds, so I sort of just had to get on with it and wait for my opportunity to leave and try and get minutes and prove myself elsewhere”, the 22-year-old striker said on the Sky Sports Essential EFL Podcast.
“It’s hard to become a better player when you’re not playing the game, so that’s why I came here hoping to play and be a better player.
“To get the feeling again of matchday, where you get the adrenaline of being on the pitch and all that stuff. I have missed that, and I can’t wait to get it back.”
But does he have a future at Leeds?
He has scored once in six games for Hull since joining the club but Ruben Selles has been clear about his praise for the striker and has been ready to start him consistently.
However, he is scheduled to return to Leeds in the summer and still has more than two years left on his contract at Elland Road.
If Leeds get back to the Premier League, it is unclear whether Farke will be ready to give him a chance, especially with the club believed to be in the market for a striker.
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However, Gelhardt is on Premier League wages at Leeds and moving him on in the summer would be complicated. Farke could be forced to rethink his assessment of the striker.
The 22-year-old also impressed when he was last in the Premier League and was compared to Messi by Arsenal legend Martin Keown.
For now, it seems too early to write the epitaph of Gelhardt’s Leeds career and a lot could still happen from now until next summer.
