Joe Gelhardt: Why Middlesbrough & Norwich City should be ready if Hull City fail | OneFootball

FLW have looked at two clubs who may look to swoop for Gelhardt from under the Tigers' nose

Hull City have been the surprise story of the current Championship season, and a strong reason behind the Tigers' unexpected promotion bid has been the overall form of Leeds United loan ace, Joe Gelhardt.

Sergej Jakirovic was able to lure the forward back to the MKM Stadium during his first transfer window in charge of the East Yorkshire club following his appointment on a two-year contract last June.

Even a two-window transfer fee restriction and concerns over a wage hike which Gelhardt had received in his permanent contract with the Whites after their Championship title-winning season under Daniel Farke last term didn't deter Hull from completing a high-profile second loan move for the former England youth international, who had become a firm favourite with supporters last term after his goals helped keep City in the second tier under Ruben Selles.

The man who once cost Leeds £1m from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2020 became Hull's second-highest scorer last term with five strikes in just 20 appearances.

Since then, as the Tigers have done as a collective under the aforementioned Jakirovic, Gelhardt has gone from strength-to-strength in the current campaign, even though his form has taken a slight hit in recent games since returning from a calf issue sustained in December.

With Hull's aforementioned restrictions expected to be lifted ahead of the summer window, it has been made no secret that the club are hoping to strike a permanent deal with their Yorkshire rivals. Gelhardt had previously been valued at £8m by Leeds, but his contract is set to expire in the summer of 2027.

Of course, transfer negotiations in the modern game are far from straightforward, and Football League World have looked at two of the Tigers' current divisional rivals who may look to swoop for the Liverpudlian from under their nose in the summer, if they cannot strike an agreement.

Middlesbrough

One of the sides currently in a promotion battle with the Tigers are Middlesbrough, albeit the Reds have established a reasonable cushion between themselves and Jakirovic's side after a recent run of impressive form.

Kim Hellberg hasn't tinkered much in terms of selection since he replaced Rob Edwards at the Riverside Stadium, but his style of play has certainly proven to be effective in his first three months in charge.

Boro have become a side known for their relentless intensity - both on and off the ball - and chance creation, which has seen them score a barrage of goals since the turn of the year.

The Swede has also made a handful of changes to the Teesside club's attack during his first transfer window, with Jeremy Sarmiento coming in on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion - which could be turned permanent - whilst Delano Burgzorg moved on loan to Bristol City.

Several of Hellberg's creative and attacking-minded outlets have been invaluable to him thus far as a result of their versatility and direct nature, such as Riley McGree, Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway, who has been known to find pockets of space in wide areas despite being utilised as the focal point of Boro's attack.

Gelhardt has shown throughout his career that he is capable of featuring in any of the three positions behind the main striker, which has been a massive benefit to Hull this season as the attacker has found the net on 10 occasions.

Furthermore, Middlesbrough were linked with a move for his services in the summer. Even though the coaching staff at the Riverside has changed since, it wouldn't be a surprise to see head of football, Kieran Scott, still having Gelhardt on a potential list of targets.

Norwich City

Norwich City have been transformed under Philippe Clement, with the former Rangers boss certainly getting the best out of several energetic attacking threats in recent weeks.

The Canaries are now looking upwards rather than over their shoulders at a potential relegation battle, with the likes of Mohamed Toure, Ali Ahmed, Anis Ben Slimane and Jovon Makama scoring plenty of goals between them, whilst there are others who are also of high importance to the Belgian as a result of their versatility.

It does, however, remain to be seen what occurs with the likes of Tony Springett, Jeffrey Schlupp and Emiliano Marcondes, with the first two out-of-contract at the end of the season, whilst Marcondes was the subject of transfer interest in January and has played just 22 minutes of Championship football in 2026.

As such, Gelhardt could emerge as a potential target for the Norfolk club either as a permanent deal, as Leeds will look to make some form of profit given his stellar form at the MKM Stadium, or on a loan basis for the third time.

Another benefit to City in this potential situation is that Whites boss, Farke, will know more than most about the club's recent reputation when it comes to aiding the development of homegrown and attacking talents, such as Ben Godfrey, Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and current Aston Villa playmaker, Emi Buendia.