Once highly-rated by Marcelo Bielsa, these two Leeds United talents are at major crossroads this season – View
Leeds United duo Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood see their futures up in the air at the moment with the latter moving to Middlesbrough on loan while neither look suited to Daniel Farke’s attack.
The end of the transfer window was as hectic as many expected at Elland Road, with incomings and outgoings sanctioned in the closing stages.
Key retentions in attack mean that some of the club’s very talented youngsters are no longer going to be getting playing time at all, having been previously highly-rated by Marcelo Bielsa and others.
Leeds’ final week in August did underline that the futures of certain players aren’t set in stone at Elland Road.
Here, we look at both players who might be considering what is best for their careers in the coming months…
Sam Greenwood
Having nearly fired Leeds into the third round of the EFL Cup with a free-kick off the crossbar at Salford City, before lashing the opening penalty of the shootout into the back of the net, that was Sam greenwood’s last action in a Leeds shirt this season before heading out of the club.
He joined Middlesbrough on loan for the season to bolster Michael Carrick’s depleted attack after multiple exits from their impressive, free-scoring 22/23 side.
At Leeds, it’s been a confusing integration into the first team for Greenwood, with his favoured position still unknown as much as which his strongest foot is too – with the consensus seemingly that his best football will come somewhere between playing as a nine in the under-21s and as a midfielder under Jesse Marsch.
Whatever he settles on at the Riverside, it seems as though from his shoehorned cameos under Farke that he doesn’t have a role here, and his long-term future needs assessing because of it.
Joe Gelhardt
These two seemed to be the rising stars at Leeds after tearing apart every youth team they faced in 20/21, but it hasn’t materialised at all.
Joe Gelhardt, in particular, looked like a reincarnation of Wayne Rooney when he burst onto the scene by winning a penalty at home to Wolves in 21/22, before a dramatic late winner helped the side to survival against Norwich City later that season.
However, it’s never got better than those flashes off the bench for Gelhardt, who struggles each time he starts, unable to fit in as seamlessly as other attackers Leeds have in their ranks.
There’s undeniable talent there, but Leeds don’t seem like the club that can get the most out of it, and it begs the question of where he is best served to fulfil his huge potential.
