Championship

Leeds United: Micky P Kerr claims Joe Gelhardt reminds him of Diego Maradona

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Image for Leeds United: Micky P Kerr claims Joe Gelhardt reminds him of Diego Maradona

Leeds United fan and comedian Micky P Kerr has been discussing the club’s new signing Joe Gelhardt during a recent edition of the LS11 podcast

It was announced earlier this week that the Whites had completed a deal which would bring the 18-year-old to Elland Road from Wigan Athletic. According to Football Insider, the striker has cost the Yorkshire-based club an initial £1m plus add-ons.

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Starting with an easy one how many points did Leeds end the season with?

Speaking about Gelhardt on the show, Kerr, perhaps somewhat casually, compared the youngster to one of the game’s all-time greats. Here is what he had to say:

“He’s a small lad. I’m quite excited about him, in fact, I’m very excited about him. I saw two small clips of him so I now think he’s the world’s greatest ever player.

“He looks like a young [Diego] Maradona, he’s tiny, [has a] low centre of gravity, he’s very direct.”

It appears clear that Kerr could be overstating the eventual abilities of Leeds’ new youngster, with his tongue-in-cheek remark perhaps unlikely to lead fans to believe he is truly a reincarnation of the Argentinian legend.

The Liverpool-born forward made 18 appearances in the Championship last season and scored his only goal during the 2-2 draw versus Hull City back in September last year (as per Transfermarkt.co.uk).

It was previously thought that Gelhardt was valued at approximately £5m by his former club but given Wigan Athletic’s financial difficulties, their administrators accepted the £1m offer submitted by Leeds United.

Are you confident Joe Gelhardt can force his way into the first-team squad right away?

Yes

Yes

No

No

TIF Thoughts…

According to reports, Gelhardt was the subject of interest from a number of clubs including the Premier League champions Liverpool, Everton, Celtic and Rangers (as per Football Insider).

If true, you could argue that landing the highly-sought-after youngster is something of a coup for the Whites.

In our view, it is a little early to be comparing him to the likes of Maradona but it’s clear his signing has caused Kerr much excitement.

We believe that the signing of Gelhardt is very much one for the future and that the Leeds United faithful will need to be patient with him and trust Maradona’s compatriot Marcelo Bielsa to manage his development in the right way.

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