Everton miss out on youngster touted as the ‘next Wayne Rooney’

Everton has lost to Leeds United in a bid to sign Joe Gelhardt, often touted as the ‘next Wayne Rooney’.

Wayne Rooney is an admired figure at Goodison Park. The English legend learnt the art of the game at Everton and will always have a place in the heart of the Royal Blues faithful. Players like him are generational and a footballer similar to him isn’t unearthed easily. Wigan Athletic striker Joe Gelhardt is touted as the next Wayne Rooney and was on Toffees’ radar. However, it is Leeds United who has been successful in signing the 18 year old beating Celtic and Everton to his signature.

The 18 year old attracted a lot of interest in his breakthrough season. Scottish giants Celtic and Glasgow Rangers were keen on Gelhardt. Liverpool also assessed him during the 2019-20 season and Everton were also interested in signing the centre forward.

Even before the start of the 2020-21 Premier League campaign, the newly promoted Leeds United have managed to get one better of Liverpool and Everton as Joe Gelhardt is set to move to Elland road.

According to Football Insider, Joe Gelhardt has signed a four year deal with the Whites completing a transfer from Wigan Athletic. The 18 year old will be the third signing for the Peacocks this summer and will be unveiled at Elland road once the transfer formalities are complete. Leeds will pay £1 million upfront to Wigan with additional payments if certain objectives are met.

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Wigan were forced to go into administration and every penny they make through sales will help the in running the club. Selling wonder kid Joe Gelhardt may be a tough decision to make but it was the need of the hour.

The Toffees were heavily impressed by his talent but were unsure whether to move for a striker who has no experience of Top Flight Football even if Gelhardt was promising enough. At this moment, the Toffees are at a critical stage and every transfer will determine how quickly can they start aiming for Europe.

Signing promising prospects may not be a priority right now as Carlo Ancelotti aims to build a squad that can challenge for Europe. Once that box is ticked, Goodison Park can act as an incubator to the rising prospects.

So even if Everton missed out on the ‘next Wayne Rooney’ in the form of Joe Gelhardt, right now there are more important matters to address and perhaps it won’t hurt them much.