Patrick Bamford ‘ready to leave’ Leeds United amid Daniel Farke evaluations
Patrick Bamford is “ready to leave” Leeds United this summer as Daniel Farke evaluates his squad for next season, according to Mail Plus.
The English striker has been plagued by injuries for the past two campaigns after netting 17 Premier League goals on the Whites’ return to the top flight.
He is now one of a number of first-team Whites players who could leave before the start of the new season, with transfer interest in various names as the new German manager gets to grips with his playing staff.
Rodrigo, Jack Harrison, Tyler Adams and Marc Roca are all named by the Mail’s Simon Jones as being followed by “several clubs”.
Bamford, 29, hasn’t been linked to a specific destination but is now reportedly prepared to depart after five seasons.
Unfortunate end?
Phil Hay had suggested on his podcast on 26 May (7m 20s) that the striker may need fresh start due to the pressure his injuries, and the reliance the team placed on him, have created, and it looks like that may be set to happen.
The former Middlesbrough and Chelsea forward suffered a miserable end to the season, as a high profile late miss in the 1-1 draw with Leicester City on 25 April, followed by a missed penalty in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle on 13 May, saw him subjected to appalling abuse.
It isn’t his fault that the powers that be at Elland Road had neglected through a series of transfer windows to sign a number nine to substitute for him during his injury problems, but the lack of that key arrival meant there was expectation heaped on his shoulders when his body frankly couldn’t keep up.
Rodrigo stepped up last season, but the huge money splurged on Georginio Rutter in January, who was neither the striker that the side needed or really ready to play a key role, meant it was still Bamford who had to be the target man the Leeds United set up needed.
Nobody could argue that his form has been anywhere near what it was two years ago, whether that be due to fitness or confidence.
And while the Championship may be the rehabilitation he needs if it allows him to start finding the net with regularity, it will only work if his injury issues clear up.
Otherwise it may be that the relationship has simply become strained to the point where both sides would benefit from a break.
Whether he goes or not surely Farke will identify what his predecessors apparently didn’t, which is that he needs actual strikers added to his squad, so either from the under-21s or the transfer market perhaps that will finally happen.
In other Leeds United news, a Sky Sports update on Sunday (9 July) has put the Whites’ “marquee signing” under threat.