Speaking on a recent episode of The Phil Hay Show, the titular journalist discussed the progression of one of Leeds United’s youth prospects, Joe Gelhardt.
Since moving to Leeds from Wigan Athletic in what was a £900k deal back in August, Gelhardt has impressed with his performances for the club’s U23 side, scoring three goals and providing one assist over his six appearances.
The £1.17 million-rated centre-forward has impressed so much, in fact, that Marcelo Bielsa recently commented on the 18-year-old’s performances, stating his belief that the striker ‘is a player that is progressing’.
Gelhardt was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of The Phil Hay Show, in which Hay stated that he doesn’t believe that it is likely that the forward will feature much for the first-team this season, despite the fact that he has highly impressed for the U23 side.
He said: “I would suspect we’ll have to wait a while longer to see Gelhardt [in the first-team] and it might be more difficult for him to push his way in this season. Not because he isn’t worth it, but because there are other players in front of him who are clogging up the bench.
“He’s been hugely impressive in the [Under-23s]. Every time I see him, he looks like a massively talented player. Leeds have been quite honest in saying that the money they paid for him, around about £700,000 up front, from what I was told, is a small fee for somebody with massive amounts of talent.
“The only reason that they were ever able to get involved at that level of valuation was purely because Wigan were in deep trouble and Wigan were in administration. He is, in the opinion of most people, worth more money than that.”
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TIF Thoughts on Phil Hay’s comments regarding Joe Gelhardt…
From Hay’s comments, it would appear that the journalist is of the belief that, while Gelhardt is indeed a very talented player, who the club managed to sign for a fee well below the true worth of the 18-year-old, fans of the club may not see much of the forward in the first-team squad this season, as there are a number of players ahead of him in the pecking order at Leeds.
However, regardless of this, considering how much Gelhardt has already impressed in his short time at the club, it would certainly seem as if the forward is an exciting prospect for the future of the club.