Leeds United chief's Harry Kane argument leaves little to imagination in developing transfer issue

The Whites’ board member used the Three Lions’ captain to illustrate his point about the loan move benefits for young players, as he explicitly stated the club’s intention to temporarily move on fringe members of Jesse Marsch’s squad before the end of this month.

The player Kinnear is assumed to have been referring to was Joe Gelhardt, a youngster with limited involvement for the first-team this season despite his breakout year for Leeds last term.

“Rutter's arrival will mean that we will be looking to make some outbound loans before the end of the transfer window,” Kinnear began. “We believe that being more active in loaning out our emerging talent will be important in ultimately accelerating their ability to contribute to our first team."

Gelhardt certainly falls into the bracket of ‘emerging talent’ and has been dubbed one of English football’s best up-and-coming strikers already this season by Kinnear, albeit back in August when the excitement surrounding the 20-year-old was just short of it’s mid-2022 peak.

Formerly of Wigan Athletic, Gelhardt has the option to return to the Championship’s basement club on a loan deal until the end of this campaign, as well as the prospect of a switch to Sunderland who are also keen on his services, but are yet to match the financial incentives tabled by the Latics.

Kinnear’s reference to England captain Harry Kane all but confirmed the identity of the Leeds player he narrowly stopped short of naming, even referring to the Championship as a fruitful destination for young Premier League forwards going on loan. Sunderland and Wigan both compete in England’s second tier.

“Harry Kane had four different loan spells before he became England's best striker and Championship experience is a significant step up from competing in Premier League 2,” Kinnear wrote.

Gelhardt’s short-term future certainly appears to be away from Elland Road as agemate and club-record buy Georginio Rutter, as well as fit-again Patrick Bamford are set to usurp Gelhardt’s fleeting Premier League appearances from the bench. Kinnear and company will be hoping his Kane comparison turns prescient if the youngster returns to Leeds with renewed confidence and a real chance of cracking the starting XI next season.