The former Wigan youngster has played a key role in helping City get promoted
Joe Gelhardt celebrates the win at Wembley(Image: Andrew Fosker/Shutterstock )
Joe Gelhardt has reiterated his desire to remain at Hull City after playing a key role in helping the Tigers win promotion back to the Premier League.
Gelhardt is on loan at City from Leeds United, and bagged 14 goals and five assists to help the Tigers reach the play-offs, scoring the second goal in the semi-final win at Millwall, before playing his part in the final stages of Saturday’s 1-0 win at Wembley against Middlesbrough.
The 24-year-old initially arrived on loan from Elland Road last January, helping City stave off the threat of relegation to League One, before pushing for a return in the summer, becoming a hugely popular figure in the East Riding.
Gelhardt has a year left on his Whites contract, but is expected to be allowed to leave West Yorkshire this summer, and City could now look to snap him up on a permanent deal in preparation for their top-flight return.
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“It’s a good question, isn’t it? Let’s see what happens over the summer, but it’s pretty clear what I want to do,” the striker told Hull Live when asked if he’d gladly sign a permanent contract now, having previously declared how keen he would be to remain at the MKM Stadium.
Written off by many, even coming into the play-offs given their struggles of last season, coupled with the transfer restrictions they were hit with back in the summer, Gelhardt says the fact they’re now in the world’s biggest league shows Sergej Jakirovic’s side have proved the doubters wrong.
“It’s amazing, it feels brilliant. To get back to the Premier League with Hull City, I love the club, I’m buzzing, I’m absolutely buzzing. It just shows what can happen in 12 months. Under the situations we had, with the embargo, we were always at a disadvantage; everybody had written us off, now we’ve proved everyone wrong, and now we’re off to the Premier League.”
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