George Overhill

Sun 14 January 2024 19:10, UK

Joe Gelhardt and West Brom could help solve each other’s problems if a switch to The Hawthorns for the Leeds United man can be secured this month.

The Sun’s Alan Nixon reported via Patreon on 14 January that the Baggies had joined the race to pick up the 21-year-old forward before the deadline, with both Rangers and Celtic also said to be interested in him.

Gelhardt has seen his development stall at Elland Road after some eye-catching performances during their successful relegation battle two seasons’ ago and looks to clearly need more first-team football over the second half of the campaign.

Aside from two starts in the second and third Championship fixtures of the season, including one in the 1-1 draw between Leeds and West Brom on 18 August the former Wigan man has only made four very brief appearances off the bench this term for Daniel Farke.

His loan at Sunderland in the second half of last season, where he featured regularly (18 league games) but saw his planned support role behind Ross Stewart scrapped almost instantly due to an injury to the Scot, hasn’t translated into an improved standing at Elland Road despite their relegation to the second tier.

And with Carlos Corberan seeing his attacking options continually depleted so far this term it could be an ideal marriage of convenience for the Albion and the youngster, who was compared to a young Wayne Rooney as he was coming through by former youth coach Tim Wyatt [Daily Mail].

Having seen Josh Maja ruled out for five months thanks to surgery on ankle ligament damage after being injured against Sunderland last month, at the same time as Matt Phillips was also consigned to recovery for the same length of time after his own hamstring operation, the West Brom boss then saw Jeremy Sarmiento recalled from his loan by Brighton.

Despite key developments in the long-awaited takeover process there is also said to be “serious” transfer interest in further attacking elements in the Baggies’ squad, with Brandon Thomas-Asante and John Swift eyed by rivals, so there is scope for that situation to get worse before the end of the month.

The need to bring in some sort of reinforcements is likely therefore to only get more vital and with Gelhardt in major need of an opportunity he could be offered extensive playing time in the Midlands.

Daryl Dike has finally returned from months in rehab on his achilles injury and would potentially be the idea partner in attack, as an out-and-out number nine who Gelhardt could slot in behind.

Nixon claims that the Whites want his significant wages to be covered in full if he is to leave for a promotion rival, which represents an obvious hurdle for a West Brom side needing to reduce the wage bill.

But if unwanted developments were to see more players leave during the current window it could make that doable, and given Gelhardt’s almost-total lack of involvement in West Yorkshire (six minutes total since August according to Transfermarkt) it may be possible to negotiate something more affordable before the deadline anyway.

He looked like a star in the making when he contributed to crucial points for Jesse Marsch’s Leeds in 2022, and was duly rewarded with a new five-year contract as a result, but things haven’t got to plan for him since and the chance to feature regularly for Corberan could be a very attractive prospect for him at this stage.

Help is on the way for the wide positions but the Baggies boss needs more in central attacking areas and can offer the young forward a chance to get his career back on track.

In other West Brom news, a Premier League club is now lining up a run at an “excellent” Albion player.