“Another source of goals” – Coventry City join Blackburn and Sunderland in race for Leeds player: The verdict | OneFootball

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Football League World

·24 January 2023

“Another source of goals” – Coventry City join Blackburn and Sunderland in race for Leeds player: The verdict

Article image:“Another source of goals” – Coventry City join Blackburn and Sunderland in race for Leeds player: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Coventry City are the latest Championship club to show an interest in highly sought-after Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt, as detailed in a report from The Sun.


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The Sky Blues join the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, Swansea City and Wigan Athletic in the pursuit of the talented 20-year-old who has been given the green light to find a loan destination this month.

The initial report from The Sun has suggested that the young striker will be speaking to interested parties this week in regards to a potential loan move.

Gelhardt has featured 15 times in the Premier League this season for the Yorkshire club but 14 of those appearances have come from the bench.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding the young striker and whether or not Coventry would be a good destination…

Quiz: Are these 20 Coventry City facts real or fake?

1 of 20

Article image:“Another source of goals” – Coventry City join Blackburn and Sunderland in race for Leeds player: The verdict

Coventry beat Sunderland on the opening weekend of the 2022/23 season

Real Fake

Billy Mulley

When it comes to potential player development, style of play and the manager, Coventry does look like a good destination for the young striker.

However, the difficulty that they will face is that there are a lot of good fits when it comes to Gelhardt and the Championship clubs that are already in pursuit.

However, alongside a player like Viktor Gyokeres, and with Robins flexible with his formations, Gelhardt could thrive as a regular starter, whilst the young forward could be instrumental in Coventry’s push for the play-offs.

Quick, dynamic, deadly in front of goal and a player who reads the game well, Gelhardt would be an excellent addition at the CBS Arena.

This has the potential to be an excellent move for all parties involved and is one that the Sky Blues should pursue further.

Adam Jones

Gelhardt could be an excellent addition considering the fact Matt Godden and Fabio Tavares’ injuries have left Mark Robins’ side short in the forward department.

They also have room for one more loanee in their matchday squad, so the young forward could be a great fit for the Sky Blues in their quest to remain competitive whilst keeping costs down.

Not only do they need to think about Godden and Tavares’ injuries – but Callum O’Hare’s setback is also a major blow for them in terms of their work in the final third – so Gelhardt could be a much-needed addition.

He hasn’t scored in the Premier League this term but with regular starts under his belt, you would back him to make a real impact in the Championship.

Some would argue that the Sky Blues should be focusing on improving their defence as their highest priority – but a striker is also needed and that could help to take pressure off Viktor Gyokeres to score most of their goals, potentially enabling the Sweden international to push his performance levels up another notch.

Brett Worthington

This would be an impressive signing for Coventry City.

Gelhardt is someone who needs regular first team minutes at this stage of his development, as the striker has been limited to cameos off the bench for the majority of this campaign. He is a player who has a lot to prove and will almost certainly be eager to go out on loan this month to show Leeds what he is all about.

He is a player who, despite not playing a lot of minutes, has been in and around the Leeds first team for a while now. He will be someone who has probably picked up more viable experience being in and around the first team set up at Elland Road, and if he were to join Coventry, he would be signing for a side that has experience developing loan players.

The Sky Blues are not well stocked in that area, and Mark Robins may want to try and take some of the burden off of Viktor Gyokeres while also preparing for the possibility that the Swedish international still departs the club this month.

Gelhardt would be joining a side that isn’t under pressure in terms of a relegation battle, and he would be playing under a manager who knows himself what it takes to be a striker.

This could be a sensible loan move for the young Leeds man, and for Coventry, it will be adding another source of goals to their side.

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