Leeds United's young forward, Joe Gelhardt turned 20 on Wednesday. He has had a season of milestones, as he made his first-team debut for the Whites in the Carabao Cup, a Premier League debut at Southampton, before scoring his first goal in the competition against Chelsea and making his first start in it against Arsenal.
More recently, he scored his first-ever winning goal in the division as his stoppage-time strike sealed three points against Norwich. Throughout the season, fans have called for more of Gelhardt.
Leeds have struggled in the centre forward department as Patrick Bamford has been injured for the vast majority of the games and neither Rodrigo nor Tyler Roberts were trusted to play regular minutes there in his stead.
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Daniel James has been the player given the nod most often, by both Marcelo Bielsa and his successor as Leeds head coach, Jesse Marsch. Meanwhile, the former Wigan youngster has produced a number of electrifying cameos off the bench.
He came on to change the game in the Whites' favour against Wolves in October and won the stoppage-time penalty for Rodrigo to equalise. He also scored a late equaliser against Chelsea, before the Whites saw the point lost as they gave away a stoppage-time penalty of their own.
His first Premier League assist also came off the bench, as he set up Daniel James to seal the 3-1 victory over Burnley. The aforementioned winner against Norwich came as a substitute, whilst in the recent 1-1 draw with Southampton, Leeds looked most likely to win the game with Gelhardt on the pitch, although they did not find the winner on that occasion.
In terms of pure figures, Gelhardt has delivered two goals and an assist across only 545 minutes. That equates to a goal or an assist in every other game, in per 90 terms. That doesn't include the fact that he has also won two penalties as well. Considering James' toils up front, it is easy to see why Leeds fans want to see more of the young striker on the field. He has delivered excellent output with few opportunities and when he plays, he raises the expectation levels of the crowd.
It should be said that Marsch has gone on record to say that he would like to play the youngster more. In fact, he was said to have been in line for a start at Wolves last month, only for a back issue to mean he was only fit enough for a place on the bench.
There is an argument to say that Gelhardt isn't perfectly suited to the lone striker role in the 4-2-3-1 formation Leeds are currently playing under Marsch, with a 4-2-2-2 being a better fit. In fact, it seems that Gelhardt could work very nicely in a partnership with Bamford in that shape.
However, the Leeds head coach doesn't have the luxury of putting that combination together in these next two games. What seems clear though, is that the young Liverpudlian is a precocious talent, capable of delivering quality in the moments when Leeds need them most.
In this run to the end of the season, Leeds need a player like that more than ever. Whether Gelhardt fits perfectly or is at his peak fitness or not, it seems now is the moment to take the gamble.
He could well be the player to deliver the critical goal that secures the club's Premier League status for another season.
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