Injury hammer blow confirmed for Leeds United loanee with 2026 return date
The out-on-loan Leeds United forward suffered the injury during last week's defeat to Middlesbrough.
Out-on-loan Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt is facing over a month on the sidelines after suffering a calf injury, Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic has confirmed.
Gelhardt was forced off during the second-half of Hull’s 4-1 defeat at home to Championship promotion contenders Middlesbrough on Friday. The Leeds loanee scored his 10th goal of the season in that loss before taking a kick to the calf and being replaced by former Whites midfielder Darko Gyabi.
The 23-year-old was not in the squad for Hull’s 2-0 win over Wrexham at the MKM Stadium on Wednesday evening. And speaking after that victory, Tigers boss Jakirovic confirmed it was bad news for his top goalscorer, who won’t play again this year.
"Our prediction is five weeks, and in five weeks we have how many games? A hundred... So we will see,” Jakirovic told the Yorkshire Post. “We cannot change anything. We will try to replace him. It's not easy because he scored 10 goals and two assists but we will try to replace him with team effort."
The injury blow has come at a terrible time for Gelhardt, who is enjoying the best season of his career at the MKM Stadium. The on-loan Leeds man is into double figures for goals after scoring against Middlesbrough, his eighth the last 10 games - a run which has also included both of his two assists for the campaign.
A five-week absence could see the young forward miss as many as seven games, six in the Championship plus Hull’s FA Cup third round meeting with second-tier rivals Blackburn Rovers. The January transfer window will be open by that point and Gelhardt’s future will be a hot topic, given his form.
Joe Gelhardt transfer latest amid Leeds United loan success
Gelhardt’s goalscoring run at Hull has fuelled speculation both over a January recall to Leeds or permanent move away, if Elland Road chiefs decide they need cash to spend on Daniel Farke’s squad. Both are unlikely, given the Liverpudlian’s strong desire to remain at the MKM Stadium.
Hull are currently under a transfer embargo which prevents them from paying fees for transfers, restricting them to signing loans or free agents. Leeds had initially hoped to get between £3-4m for Gelhardt but eventually sanctioned a season-long return to the Tigers, given he was clear it was the move he wanted.
Leeds might feel fortunate not to have cashed in for the aforementioned fee and could feasibly ask for more, should Gelhardt’s form continue upon his return from injury. And Hull boss Jakirovic has made no secret of his desire to make the Leeds forward’s temporary switch permanent when possible.
“I know that Joe is very happy to be here and from the first contact he wants to come to us because he’s enjoying it here and he told me he will stay till end of the season,” Jakirovic told BBC Humberside Sport on X last month. “We will try to also buy him to be our player, so we will see. I don’t think Leeds see him as a player for Leeds.”