Leeds United have had great academy products for many years, but the one young man they’ve featured in the book hasn’t reached his potential after being compared to Stephen Gerrard and Wayne Rooney at the youth level.
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White people are responsible for producing many well-known Premier League players from the well-known academies over the past 30 years. Some people made names known elsewhere at the first team level as a result of the club’s well-documented financial problems in the early 2000s.
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Meanwhile, others were impressed at Elland Road, but before it appeared in the transfer market, the latest one was Archie Gray. He was considered to be worth £40 million in 2024 to Tottenham.
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Currently, Leeds has Archie’s younger brother, Harry Gray, over ranked. He actually made his first team debut at age 16 and 6 months.
Leeds United’s youngest player ever | The age of debut | |
|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Lorimer | 15 years, 9 months, 19 days |
2 | Tom Elliott | 16 years, 2 months, 25 days |
3 | Aaron Lennon | 16 years, 4 months, 7 days |
4 | Harry Gray | 16 years, 6 months, 13 days |
5 | James Milner | 16 years, 10 months, 6 days |
6 | Neil Aspin | 16 years, 10 months, 8 days |
7 | Ady White | 16 years, 10 months, 16 days |
8 | Simon Walton | 16 years, 10 months, 25 days |
9 | Jimmy Greenhoff | 16 years, 10 months, 26 days |
10 | Ryan Edmondson | 16 years, 11 months, 16 days |
While the Yorkshires hope to be able to protect the forwards already compared to Michael Owen and Harry Caine, one of the attackers who failed to stand the hype was Joe Gerhardt.
Leeds talent will be on sale after comparisons between Gerrard and Rooney
After Leeds was promoted to the Premier League, there were many big things to expect when Leeds swooped down to sign Wigan Athletics Gerhard under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020. The exciting teenager deal cost whites just £1 million and he made his top flight debut in 2021, reaching his first team.
The attacker only scored three goals for the whites. One of them was the winner of the suspension time against Norwich City, which also produced some incredible skills that would help keep Leeds in the 2022 Premier League.
However, Gelhardt has struggled with consistency, and is being loaned and sent to Sunderland and Hull City, and will be on permanent sale in 2025 if the club offers £3 million to £4 million.
Longtime Merseyside Boys Manager Tim Wyatt even said that Gelhardt caught the eye as much as Stephen Gerrard and Wayne Rooney did when they were 14 years old.
“There are very few players who stand out at 14. Stephen Gerrard certainly did Rooney and Joe, my first season, and I remember he showed up for a trial that looked like a Rooney.
Gregor Riok, former Wigan academy president and now sports director, also praised Gerhardt, saying he “has an X-factor.”
“Joffey was a throwback. He played a youth game in the morning and then went out to play with his peers. Many kids were at home on the PlayStation. He loved the fresh air. On the pitch, he found space in tight areas and had the ability to beat players one-on-one.
That’s a case of what happened to Gerhard of Elland Road, and as he’s only 23 years old, he wants to get his career back on track elsewhere.
