Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa has told Leeds Live what Joe Gelhardt needs to do to get into the first team.
Bielsa has said that he wants Leeds striker Gelhardt to show him that he is good enough to play for the senior side.
The Leeds boss has said that he wants to see that the 19-year-old can close the gap between him and the senior strikers ahead of him.
The Argentine told Leeds Live: “After the 18 [first-team] players, you have the rest up until [No.] 33, so you can have three per position.
“The difference between player one and two is not that big, but the third option for every position, what we try is that they replace those in front of them.
“When we manage to achieve that, that’s to say when Gelhardt is better than Bamford, Rodrigo and Tyler, that’ll be a triumph for the work what we’ve done.
“What I’m looking for, what I want is for him to verify that he is good, not to verify that he doesn’t have the level to play.”
Breaking into first team
Gelhardt joined Leeds from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2020 for a transfer fee reported by The Sun to be worth £1 million.
The striker is very highly rated and was playing for the Wigan first team when he was snapped up by Leeds.
The England Under-20 international has yet to make an appearance in the Premier League for Leeds, but that is only a matter of time.
After all, Charlie Cresswell has already played in the Premier League for the West Yorkshire club.
Moreover, Gelhardt has already played in the Carabao Cup for the Whites this season.
Patrick Bamford is the number one striker at Leeds, and that is not going to change anytime soon.
However, Bielsa could use a young striker to start cup games and to play on occasions in the Premier League.
Gelhardt could be that young striker.
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