Gelhardt, 21, has been on the books at Leeds since joining them in 2020 from Wigan Athletic, but he has yet to establish himself as a regular starter at the Elland Road outfit.
The forward spent the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland and has featured in 20 games for the Black Cats in the Championship, providing six goal contributions.
Gelhardt often plays as a central striker, but former Leeds man Prutton believes that his best position and how they are going to utilise him most effectively are still to be determined.
The ex-Leeds star insisted that the forward’s potential must eventually be translated into him making sustained impacts on the pitch.
“There’s also Joe Gelhardt but I still think we are yet to find out what his best position is and how he is utilised best by the manager that is in charge”, Prutton wrote in his Yorkshire Evening Post column.
“There’s a lot of goodwill for Joe but at some stage that potential and that goodwill has got to be turned into positive impacts on the pitch and prolonged consistent impacts on the pitch and he’ll be at the top of the list of people that wants that for himself.
“That’s a work in progress.”
Gelhardt was widely linked with a move away from Leeds before the transfer window closed, but remains at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke has a number of options in the final third and if Gelhardt does not play then he may be wanted by several teams when the window opens again in January.
