Rooney warning fired amid ‘massive’ Leeds-Gelhardt claim – pundit
Frank McAvennie has told Leeds to look after Joe Gelhardt after he made his Premier League debut last week.
The former West Ham hitman, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, cited Wayne Rooney in his warning to the club.
Gelhardt, 19, caught the eye in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wolves as he won the penalty that saw Rodrigo equalise for Marcelo Bielsa’s men.
The youngster also made a 37-minute cameo in Tuesday’s 2-0 League Cup defeat to Arsenal.
Leeds are suffering through an injury crisis, meaning Bielsa is having to rely on youngsters like Gelhardt.
McAvennie has warned against putting too much pressure on the striker and cited Rooney’s rise to prominence as an example.
“Listen, seeing a youngster come on and make an impact is great,” McAvennie told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“The fans love to see it, it’s the whole ‘one of our own thing’.
“But it’s very rare you see a player like that come in and stay there and have a massive impact.
“We saw it with Rooney at Everton but he is one of the great English footballers.
“Not to take away from this kid, all I’m saying is I don’t think it would be fair to now consider him a starter.
“The best thing Leeds can do is look after him and make sure all of this doesn’t go to his head.
“I’m not saying this will happen, but youngsters sometimes get ideas above their station when they break into the team.
“I’m sure Bielsa won’t let that happen but they need to keep an eye on him.”
In other news, pundit predicts Leeds United turnaround after ‘brilliant’ Bielsa footage emerges.