Joe Gelhardt’s future is up in the air at Leeds United but it’s seemingly looking like his time with the club is at an end.
Gelhardt left for Hull City on loan in the January transfer window as Daniel Farke clearly didn’t see the striker as a part of his plans.
It seems like the move has worked out well for the 22-year-old as Hull fans want Gelhardt permanently from Leeds.
It’s a real shame, but Gelhardt’s Leeds dream might be shattered especially after Hull boss Ruben Selles wants Gelhardt to stay.
With all the signs pointing to his exit, Tony Mowbray has revealed why he thinks the striker never lived up to the hype at Elland Road.
Tony Mowbray gives reason why Joe Gelhardt failed at Leeds United
His failure hasn’t been complete just yet at Leeds as Gelhardt is only on a loan spell, but it almost feels like a permanent switch is waiting.
Selles described Gelhardt as ‘energetic’ which could’ve proved to be a useful tool for Farke as the Championship gets set for an exciting run-in.
The Leeds boss never really gave the chance to prove his worth and it seems like his career will be better away from the Whites.
Well, Mowbray thinks he knows why it just hasn’t gone right for the young attacker.
Speaking to Hull Live, the West Brom manager gave Gelhardt praise and explained why he didn’t quite succeed for Leeds.
“He’s a lovely lad, a lovely kid who loves football, wants to improve, and wants to get better,” Mowbray said.
“I think it was a big burden on him, wasn’t there? A lot of people thought he was the next Wayne Rooney coming through at Wigan and then going to Leeds, But a nice lad, I found that he would listen, was intelligent, and wanted to please.”
How Gelhardt adopted ‘Rooney’ tag which lead to Leeds downfall
Mowbray coached Gelhardt at Sunderland which gives him some understanding of the situation, and you can’t deny his claims being wrong.
It seemed there was pressure from Leeds fans for the youngster, who was seemingly homegrown despite starting off at Wigan.
The Leeds faithful still hold great respect for Gelhardt and it seems whatever he does next they’ll continue to show him that support, but Gelhardt was frustrated with game time under Farke.
This ultimately lead him the way of Hull, but the ‘Rooney’ tag that was given him didn’t exactly help matters at Leeds.
Speaking to MailOnline, it was actually Gelhardt’s childhood manager Tim Wyatt who said the striker looked ‘Rooneyesque’.
As much as this was a compliment at the time, it probably didn’t do ‘Joffy’ any favours, and it looks like Gelhardt and Leeds will finally part ways in the summer.
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