By Azeem Siddiqui

24th Sep, 2022 | 9:00am

View: Leeds United must give Joe Gelhardt more minutes or send him on loan

Leeds United are going through a decent campaign after a horrendous season where they narrowly managed to escape relegation.

One of the areas where the Whites tried to strengthen throughout the recently concluded transfer window was the striker’s department, but failed to bring in any big name.

Out of all the forwards available for Jesse Marsch to pick from, one is Joe Gelhardt, who is yet to score a goal this season.

Need more first-team minutes

Leeds’ search for an outright striker continued all summer and they eventually managed to bring in Italy international Wilfried Gnonto from FC Zurich.

Every young player needs time on the pitch to polish his skills and with the arrival of the 18-year-old, it seems that Gelhardt’s minutes will decrease further.

The 20-year-old is highly-rated and was pretty impressive for the Whites last season as well, where he scored twice and provided four assists in just 20 matches in the league competition [Transfermarkt].

Those numbers were really good considering Gelhardt was just a 19-year-old but even then, he managed to showcase his talent against the big boys.

Therefore, it is important that either Marsch gives him more minutes so he can get the rhythm he needs to improve his abilities or send him out on loan in January to a team where he can play week in, week out.

That way he can come back as a much better player and contribute to Leeds cause.

In other Leeds United news, Sonny Perkins has extended his 100% scoring record this season on international duty.