Can Leeds United recall Joe Gelhardt from Sunderland loan? When can striker return to Elland Road?

Goals can be like gold dust for teams in a relegation battle and head coaches will always explore every option available to them to help their team find the back of the net.

For Leeds United, scoring hasn’t necessarily been their biggest problem this campaign and the Whites are actually 12th overall for goals scored in the Premier League this season. Their total off 44 is a better conversion rate than relegation rivals Everton and Nottingham Forest and is only two less than that of Aston Villa who are currently chasing European football.

However, Sam Allardyce will know how valuable just a few more crucial goals could be for the remainder of the campaign and that has some Leeds fans asking whether they might look to recall one of their forward players from his current loan spell. Joe Galhardt joined EFL Championship side Sunderland in the January transfer window and has helped the Black Cats secure a spot in the play-offs with three goals along the way.

Sunderland will now face Luton Town over two legs for the right to advance to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium on May 27 where they would face either Middlesbrough or Coventry City. Gelhardt will be expected to play his part in those fixtures but could Leeds look to recall the England youth international to help their survival bid either before or after those matches?

If the North East side were to lose to Luton then their seasons would be officially over as of Tuesday, May 16 while Leeds would still have two matches remaining in their own campaign - away to West Ham and at home to Tottenham Hotspur. However, just because he might be done at his loan club, that does not mean he can be recalled by his parent club.

In most loan contracts, one or both clubs usually have the option to end the deal early and that can obviously happen if it turns out to be mutually agreed by all parties. However, a loan can only be brought to an early end during a transfer window which means Gelhardt would not be eligible to play for Leeds until next month - missing the remaining games of this season.

Occasionally, the governing bodies will allow special discretion in these scenarios but that rule tends to be reserved for transfers concerning goalkeepers. All that essentially means that the Whites will have to do without the services of the 21-year old for their remaining games even if they did want to bring him back to play some part.

Although Leeds have been on the end of some horrendous results in the last few months, you have to go back to March 4 for the last time they failed to score in a match which came in a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Rodrigo Moreno is the club’s top scorer this season with 14 goals while Luis Sinisterra is second in that list with seven and Patrick Bamford has chipped in with six.