‘The information’… 21-year-old could actually stay at Leeds United in January now

Add as preferred source on Google

Joe Gelhardt could actually stay at Leeds United in January despite interest from elsewhere.

Hull City and Huddersfield Town are among the clubs said to be keen on signing him on loan next month, with game time at Elland Road very much at a premium for the 21-year-old.

Gelhardt has not played a single minute since a very short cameo appearance from the bench in a 3-0 win at Millwall all the way back in September, and has even struggled to make the bench as of late.

But according to journalist Dean Jones, who has speaking on Gelhardt’s situation to Give Me Sport, where he claimed that the most likely scenario at this stage is that he stays.

He believes that Daniel Farke will see him as someone who can come in and do a job over the second half of the season when fixtures start to pile up.

Gelhardt likely to stay at this stage

He said: “Obviously, he’s not seeing much game time, but the information up to now has been that he will probably remain with deciding January and I think that will be reviewed properly at the end of the season if that’s the the case.

“The reason he might stay in January is that the Championship is tough. Now we can all see that he’s obviously not playing, but in the second half of the season, in that league with the number of games and how they can quickly pile up, especially if any postponements come along, it can really test a squad.

“I think that Leeds will be wary of that and will want to know that they’ve got the depth to come in. So he still has the capability of doing a job if called upon and I think they’ll be in two minds about letting him go.”

It has been said that Farke is keen to keep every player in his squad in January to avoid any disruption in their pursuit of automatic promotion.

However, if there is an opportunity to improve the squad, then Leeds should take it, and that could well involve loaning out a couple of fringe players like Gelhardt.

Gelhardt is having his development wasted at a crucial time in his career at the moment and if Leeds are wanting to bring the best out of him, he needs to go and play regularly somewhere.