Premier League leaders Liverpool are monitoring the progress of 17-year-old Wigan Athletic striker Joe Gelhardt, but face competition from two of their big-six rivals.
Gelhardt came through the academy at Wigan, breaking into the first team at the start of the season.
His ‘rapid development’ has alerted the presence of their European champion neighbours, who join Chelsea and Manchester United in being linked with the forward, according to the Daily Star.
Paul Cook, the youngster’s current boss, has hailed the teenager as a natural footballer with the ‘unique talent to find space in a telephone box‘.
The young striker has made six appearances from the bench in the Championship this season, scoring once to rescue a point late on against Hull City. Indeed, the player is reported to be a fan of the Reds, who have recently lost the services of young striker Bobby Duncan, so could potentially have a place for a talent to work in the youth systems before stepping up to the first-team.
While Jurgen Klopp has a title challenge on his hands once again, the European champions did look to plan for the future with the signings of Sepp van den Berg and Harvey Elliot over the course of the summer, so perhaps moving for a fairly local young talent (Wigan is only 22 miles away from Liverpool) would fit into that strategy.
While it’d be too much to suggest the youngster would have much of a chance to break into the Liverpool XI in the near future, it’s easy to see why the Reds would be keen. Given the level of interest reported to be prevalent in the player right now and the fact he’s already making an impact in senior men’s football, Gelhardt looks a talent.
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