Leeds signed Gelhardt from Wigan Athletic last summer and the teenage striker has scored seven times in 12 appearances for their Under-23 side this season.
The 18-year-old was on the bench for Leeds last two Premier League games and has been name-checked by Marcelo Bielsa for his potential and talent.
Chadwick worked with Gelhardt at Wigan and he admits that the young forward reminded him of a young Rooney at Everton because of the love for football he had from a young age.
He stressed that managing him was brilliant as he was sailing through all the challenges and the Wigan coaches were working hard to make sure that he faced some sort of adversity as part of his development.
“I was at Everton when Wayne was coming through as a scholar and whatever else you said about Wayne’s talent or ability, the first thing you noticed with him was how much he loved playing”, Chadwick told The Athletic.
“Wayne was the sort of lad who would go home and play in the street.
“He was a street footballer at heart and I thought the same about Joe.
“The streets of Liverpool were like Joe’s practice ground. That’s where he honed his skills.
“Managing him was a dream, to the point where you felt like you had to challenge him to learn about adversity.
“The coaches at Wigan, we’d chat about him and say that surely it can’t be plain sailing like this forever?
“Surely he’d hit a difficult patch which he needed to come through?
“If that happened, you wanted him to be prepared but what could you do?
“Every time he played, he was affecting things positively.
“The flair he had didn’t mean he did things for show.
“He just had it.”
Gelhardt will be hoping to make his Leeds debut soon as he continues to impress in the Under-23s.
