Sky Sports commentator Don Goodman belives Leeds United could struggle to move on striker Joe Gelhardt, even after reducing thier asking price.
It’s understood Leeds were valuing the 23-year-old around £8m previously, but could now allow him to leave Elland Road for half that after deciding to sanction his exit following their promotion to the Premier League.
Gelhardt spent the second half of the season on loan at Hull City and enjoyed a fruitful spell across Yorkshire, bagging five goals to help the Tigers avoid relegation to League One.
City were keen on trying to bring back Gelhardt, but the departure of Ruben Selles has thrown that into fresh doubt, with incoming head coach Sergej Jakirovic likely to have fresh ideas. The prospect of Gelhardt’s salary doubling automatically following the Whites’ promotion has also added further complications to any deal.
The Liverpool-born former Wigan Athletic player still looks set to leave Elland Road this summer in search of regular first-team football, but financially, the package would be sizeable for any Championship club.
Given Gelhardt has bagged just nine goals in 69 Championship games, and two in 35 top-flight outings, Goodman feels even £3m would perhaps be a stretch.
“We’ve spoken about Joe Gelhardt before in terms of him being bought by Hull City, and he’s done okay,” the ex-Wolves forward told FLW.
“I think we’ve described it as okay before, not spectacular, and an outlay of £3-4 million on a player that’s just done okay seems a little bit excessive to me.
“I think that’s the thing that would hold Leeds back in actually getting him off the wage bill is probably a price that not too many teams are going to be prepared to pay.”
Would you like City to pursue a deal for the forward? Have your say in the comments below….
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