Can Leeds recall Gelhardt from Sunderland? Worried fans at the Stadium of Light have asked after Rodrigo suffered a serious ankle injury.
The Black Cats signed the 20-year-old on loan from Leeds towards the end of the January transfer window, although some are concerned that he could now be recalled with Rodrigo out for at least two months.
Sunderland supporters have already been robbed of a highly effective loanee when Everton decided to recall Ellis Simms at the start of January, after he scored seven goals in 17 Championship appearances for the Black Cats.
So, can Leeds recall Gelhardt? Let’s take a look…
Can Leeds recall Gelhardt from Sunderland?
Well, it doesn’t seem as if Leeds have the option to recall Gelhardt – even if they wanted to.
The Chronicle have stressed the lack of centre-forward options Tony Mowbray has at his disposal, but they mention that Sunderland will only lose the England Under-20 international if he suffers a serious injury.
In that instance, Gelhardt would most likely return to Leeds for his recovery, but a straight recall like Everton did with Simms does not appear to be possible now the transfer window has ended.
Mowbray has just lost Ross Stewart to a season-ending Achilles injury shortly after Simms was called back to Goodison Park, so it would be a nightmare if his latest arrival from Leeds also suffered an injury.
Hopefully, that doesn’t turn out to be the case, although Leeds themselves may be regretting their decision to offload Gelhardt after Rodrigo was ruled out for two months.
Patrick Bamford is available, but has only just come back from a serious injury of his own, so Jesse Marsch could also find himself struggling with his own centre-forward options soon.
Nevertheless, that isn’t Sunderland’s problem to think about – the Black Cats just need to hope Gelhardt stays fit, or Mowbray will end up in a real predicament.
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