Patrick Bamford shares what Adam Clayton told him about Leeds before £10m switch

Patrick Bamford had every idea about how much pressure was going to be on him to succeed at Leeds United before he joined in 2018.

Leeds paid £10million [BBC] to sign Bamford, 26, from Middlesbrough during Marcelo Bielsa’s first summer transfer window at Elland Road.

Bamford has divided opinion among Leeds fans since his arrival as he has often had dry spells in front of goal but has still played a key role in Bielsa’s system.

And it seems that before he did arrive in West Yorkshire, ex-Leeds midfielder Adam Clayton told him what it would be like if he was able to win promotion to the Premier League with the Whites.

“Just being around Leeds, you can feel how much desire there is for the club to succeed. You then start to realise how much of an impact being promoted would have not only on everyone associated with the football club, but the city as a whole,” Bamford told iNews.

“Before I came here, I remember speaking to Adam Clayton at Middlesbrough and he said ‘if you guys take Leeds up, you’ll be heroes forever’. That’s always stayed with me.”

Bamford has scored 23 goals in 63 appearances across all competitions for Leeds United.

He has scored 13 of them this season but scored in only two of his 13 league appearances before the coronavirus pandemic brought football in England to a halt last month.

In the final game before the coronavirus-enforced suspension, Bamford scored a tap-in in the 2-0 win against Huddersfield.

If that goal was going to offer him the momentum he needed to rediscover his form in front of goal, that momentum is likely to have gone by now.

In other Leeds United news, Leeds have been handed killer blow to their hopes of signing this centre-back.