Best Alternatives to Joe Gelhardt

Playing Style Analysis

Gelhardt is a street-footballer trapped in a professional’s frame, a "chaos factor" who marries a relentless defensive appetite with the ball-striking instinct of a natural-born finisher. While his 0.51 goals per 90 puts him in the Championship’s elite bracket, the data reveals a player far more involved than a traditional poacher. He operates as a high-functioning hub, ranking in the top 20% for passes into the final third and dribbles, effectively acting as his own playmaker. The three closest DNA matches to Joe Gelhardt:

• Enes Ünal(82% match) — Ünal is the kind of striker Premier League defenders quietly dread—a physical menace in the air who backs it up with real end product. His aerial win rate sits in the top 5% of forwards in this division, and crucially, those duels are translating: 5.68 aerials won per 90 is not a volume stat, it's dominance.
• Cucho Hernández(82% match) — A Complete Forward. Statistically, he stands out as a capable chance creator (1.2 key passes/90), a constant goal threat (3.1 shots/90) and a regular goalscorer (0.38 goals/90).
• Mama Baldé(82% match) — A Target Man. Statistically, he stands out as a constant goal threat (3.9 shots/90), a regular goalscorer (0.25 goals/90) and a prolific assist provider (0.25 assists/90).

Similarity uses per-90 performance across playing-style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →