Why Joe Gelhardt rejected Middlesbrough for Hull City - his ambition is clear | OneFootball

The Leeds United loanee has outlined exactly why he returned to the MKM Stadium

Hull City's on-loan forward, Joe Gelhardt, has outlined exactly why he returned to the MKM Stadium for a second stint away from Leeds United.

The Tigers forward has been speaking about his thought process to the Daily Mail, whilst his signature was courted by some of City's divisional rivals throughout a particularly intriguing summer transfer window from the East Yorkshire club's perspective - their first under the management of Bosnian head coach, Sergej Jakirovic also.

It has been a surprisingly strong start to the Championship season for the Tigers, who were tipped for a campaign of struggle following an off-season of further turnover under the ownership of Turkish media mogul, Acun Ilicali.

Indeed, Jakirovic became Hull's fourth permanent boss in less than two years back in June after exiting his position in charge of Turkish Süper Lig side Kayserispor to replace Ruben Selles after the Spaniard was handed his P45 just 11 days after he was able to preserve the club's second-tier status by virtue of goal difference ahead of Luton Town on the final day of last season with a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth.

Such fears only grew when the club were hit with a transfer fee restriction - initially set for a length of three windows, but has since been reduced to two after an EFL hearing - as a result of delayed payments to other clubs.

This meant that Jakirovic, sporting director Jared Dublin and newly-appointed head of recruitment, Martin Hodge, could only recruit players on free transfers or in loan deals which required no additional fees, and it must be said that the vast proportion of the 12 signings made at the MKM Stadium have been successful thus far.

Gelhardt is certainly leading the way in that regard, having picked up exactly where he left off in HU3, and he has since revealed what lured him back to the Tigers despite interest from Middlesbrough, who he will face off against in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Friday night.

The 23-year-old and former England youth international has always been a player who has generated plenty of attention due to the potential attached to his shoulders at a very early stage of his career, which certainly came after a £1m switch to Leeds from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2020 following the Whites' return to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa.

Despite making 57 appearances for the West Yorkshire side since then, only a handful of those have come under current boss, Daniel Farke, with his last involvement for Leeds coming against Norwich City, almost 14 months ago.

A return of five goals in just 20 appearances was enough to help Hull secure their Championship status under Selles, as well as seeing Gelhardt end the campaign as the Tigers' second-highest scorer behind Joao Pedro.

Unsurprisingly, there was a clamour from supporters at the MKM to see the loan favourite return once more, although it was reported that a promotion wage hike after Leeds' Championship-winning season could have proven a sticking point alongside Hull's aforementioned limitations in the market.

With the Tigers remaining hopeful of striking an agreement, it was then reported that Middlesbrough were also interested in striking a deal for the Liverpudlian under Rob Edwards, although Hull would eventually secure his services for a full season ahead of the opening day goalless draw at Coventry City.

Despite a change in head coach, Gelhardt hasn't looked back, scoring nine times and posting two assists in 18 games for the division's joint-second-highest scorers, with nine of those contributions coming from October 18th onwards.

As such, he has now revealed exactly why he made the move.

"We’re all good friends and that makes it easier when you're on the pitch. You want to run extra yards for each other," said Gelhardt.

"Even though last season was difficult, this was the only place I wanted to go because I knew the group was capable of more. We now back ourselves against anyone in this league and we’ve got the quality to push for the play-offs," he added.

Given Gelhardt's form, it comes as no surprise that Hull are hoping to secure his services on a permanent basis at the end of the season when their transfer fee restriction has been lifted.

It could take a sizeable fee to prize him away from Elland Road, though. It has recently been revealed that, in the summer, United were hoping to move the forward on for a sum of £8m, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2027.

It remains if such a valuation would be in place with just over 18 months left on the attacker's contract, but his current form will certainly give the Whites' hierarchy plenty to consider.