15-goal Leeds United forward wanted by pre-season opponents in £4.5m transfer

Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt has emerged as a potential summer transfer target for Championship side Wrexham.

Gelhardt spent the past 18 months at Hull City, initially joining on a six-month loan in January 2025 before securing a season-long switch the following summer. Last season, he scored an impressive 15 goals to help the Tigers win promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs.

But a permanent move to the MKM Stadium is yet to materialise and the 24-year-old was not included in Daniel Farke’s pre-season tour of America squad. The Whites kicked off that trip with a 3-2 defeat to Wrexham and now the Welsh side could look to sign Gelhardt in a bid to boost their promotion hopes.

The Daily Mail report that Wrexham want to sign Gelhardt in a £4.5million deal, recognising he could play a similar role to that at Hull in contributing to a promotion push. And with the Tigers currently exploring other attacking options, an opportunity could arrive to bring the Liverpudlian back to the second-tier.

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Wrexham are not alone in keeping tabs on Gelhardt, with Championship rivals Birmingham City also keen while Hull have suggested they could return for the forward if they miss out on other targets. Leeds wanted between £3-4m for their youngster 12 months ago but a 15-goal Championship campaign could reasonably see that price-tag doubled.

Elland Road chiefs are expected to sanction a permanent exit for the youngster, who is into the final year of his contract Speaking after Saturday’s 2-0 pre-season friendly win over RB Leipzig, Farke suggested first-team exits will be low in number but stopped short of mentioning obvious fringe squad members like Gelhardt.

“We will see. So far, no one has knocked on my door in order to say that he really wants to leave,” he said. "It's also not that the group is too big at the moment. So let's see what happens once we edge closer to the start.

“Perhaps also after the first one or two games, a few players are perhaps a bit more disappointed, then it’s more likely that someone would knock at my door. But it seems like everyone is in a good mood and everyone is happy so far and for that I'm happy with all my boys. I bring them all my respect and all my workload.

“So for that, first team players at the moment, I'm happy to have all of them. For that, I don't expect too much business on the outgoing side but I also won't rule anything out.”