Here is your Leeds United morning digest for Wednesday, January 20.
Joe Gelhardt mystery deepens
Joe Gelhardt has been absent from the Leeds set-up since the turn of the year, with no explanation offered by Leeds.
The striker, who signed with the club in the summer and has impressed thus far with five goals in nine appearances for the under-23s, was not a part of the Leeds under-23s two matches of 2021 to date.
He also missed Leeds' FA Cup match against Crawley, prior to which many believed that he could be handed his first-team debut.
And now the mystery has deepened further as BBC journalist Adam Pope confirmed that Gelhardt is not injured.
In response to being asked about the 18-year-old's absence, Pope said on Twitter: "I’m told he’s not injured."
You can read more on Gelhardt's mysterious absence here.
Financial impact of FA Cup failure
For the third time under Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round. They are yet to win a match in the competition under the Argentinian.
And while the prize money has been halved due to Covid and the basic financial benefits of a deep run in the competition are not especially evident, as Kieran Maguire explains, Leeds have forgone the potential to significantly increase their revenue with their defeat to Crawley.
"[A cup run] would be big but it wouldn’t hit the radar significantly from a straightforward financial perspective," Maguire told Football Insider. "You get £1.8million for winning the FA Cup this year, that’s the difference between finishing 12th and 11th in the Premier League.
"The prizes for the FA Cup this season have been halved by the Football Association as a result of Covid, so that’s put a further financial damper on it. What would have been good for Leeds is, if they got to the final and we were allowed to watch it, the club would have made an awful lot of money from merchandise, and clearly they would have sold out every ticket.
"If off the back of that they could have got into Europe… It’s 17 or 18 years since Leeds were last in Europe. Even in the Europa League, I would have anticipated that Leeds would have sold out Elland Road every match at home and they would take huge away followings as well."
Under-23s coach Darren Arnott leaves
Under-23 coach Darren Arnott has left Leeds, moving to Norwegian team Stromsgodset as a part of Henrik Pedersen's coaching team.
It was confirmed on Monday that Arnott, who worked with both Carlos Corberan and Mark Jackson with the Leeds youth teams and has been credited with playing a role in the development of several young first-teamers, including new debutant Sam Greenwood, will leave Thorp Arch.
Arnott previously said that he relished working with and learning from Bielsa, but he has now made the decision to move on and progress his coaching career.
It remains to be seen how Leeds will replace Arnott, though their coaching staff is said to be tight-knit and they have previously promoted from within.
