While a lot of transfer attention will be placed on who Leeds United could bring in this January, a handful of the current crop could be heading out of Elland Road.
Two could be strikers. Patrick Bamford is the most high-profile potential departure given his sparse game time. Not only has he yet to start a Championship fixture this season, his longest stint in a league match has been just 25 minutes.
He did play the full 90 minutes in the 3-0 League Cup defeat to Middlesbrough back in August, though, and might be handed another cup start in this weekend’s FA Cup third round tie against Harrogate Town.
It’s a match fellow striker Joe Gelhardt would have normally spied game time in too, although things might be about to change for the 22-year-old. Hull City are interested in a loan deal and it could be that the 2020 signing becomes the first player to exit this window.
Gelhardt has played just three times this season and not at all since October 1. Like Bamford, his only start came against Middlesbrough in August but he only lasted 63 minutes after being played on the flank.
The youngster has struggled for minutes since Daniel Farke’s arrival. He has been afforded just 16 outings by the German and three of his five starts have come in the League Cup. Gelhardt’s appearance on the bench against Hull was his first inclusion in a matchday squad since the end of October.
Despite this weekend’s FA Cup tie with League Two outfit Harrogate ordinarily being an obvious opportunity for game time, there is every chance he misses the squad. That’s because, if he is to be loaned out as expected, he would be cup-tied for any receiving club.
Hull host Doncaster Rovers at home in their cup tie and are expected to progress. Should his move to the MKM Stadium indeed go through, Gelhardt would not be eligible to play in the next round if he features for Leeds this weekend.
And with that in mind, the forward might have played his last match for Leeds this season. Only time will tell whether Gelhardt, whose Whites contract does not expire until 2027, has played his final game for Leeds overall.
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