Leeds striker Joe Gelhardt has been linked with a loan move away from Elland Road throughout the January transfer window. Despite reports that the 20 year old’s former club Wigan Athletic were favourites to land his services for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign, it now looks like Gelhardt is set to complete a medical at Sunderland.
Reported this evening by well-followed Leeds United reporter Phil Hay in his latest piece with The Athletic, the Black Cats have agreed a deal with Leeds and Gelhardt over the past 48 hours that will see the talented young striker see out the current campaign with the Championship side.
Game time with the Leeds United first team has been limited for Gelhardt despite being a highly rated young prospect. In his time at the club, he has registered 35 league appearances – though 29 of these were as a substitute, often with barely any time left in games. Gelhardt has two league goals to his name at Leeds, and did produce one of the finest assists the fan base has seen, setting up Pascal Struijk’s last gasp equaliser against Brighton last May to rescue a crucial point in Leeds’ bid to stay in the Premier League.
Assuming Gelhardt completes his move, he will likely make his debut for Sunderland in their Championship clash against Millwall at The Den on February 4th, as they look to bolster their push for Play-Off football.
This month has seen the return of Patrick Bamford and Luis Sinisterra from injury, along with the arrival of club record signing Georginio Rutter – not to mention the emergence of Willy Gnonto and Rodrigo’s excellent form in front of goal this season. Considering how stacked the Leeds attack is at the moment, its no real surprise that Gelhardt will be heading out on loan. He’s very much still part of the plans for the future, though there will be limited game time for him to develop at Elland Road in the coming months.
We’ll keep you up to date with all the latest news around Joe Gelhardt and his progress out on loan as well as the other Leeds players around the divisions such as Leo Hjelde, Tyler Roberts and more.
Let us know what you think of this move in the comment section below, and on Twitter at @VitalLeeds.