While Sonny Perkins and Mateo Joseph have been gorging themselves on goals week by week, Joe Gelhardt’s transition to the first team has seen him go under the radar. In fact, the 20-year-old only hit his first goals of the season down the road from his family’s house last night.
While Perkins and Joseph are soaking up the under-21 limelight Gelhardt’s already enjoyed for the past two years, he’s in the first team and trying to make a difference on the big stage. A drop down into the under-21s at Tranmere Rovers last night quickly underlined why Gelhardt has moved onwards and upwards already.
And yet the arrival of Wilfried Gnonto followed by Gelhardt’s omission from Sunday’s matchday squad raised a few eyebrows. United’s injury crisis has been so consistently savage for the past 12 months and Gelhardt’s game-changing ability so unique, his name has become a staple on the weekend teamsheet, fitness permitting.
