‘Patrick Bamford to never play for Leeds again as Daniel Farke has replacement’
Patrick Bamford has not featured for Leeds United since New Year’s Day after playing the final 20 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers, and may now not do so again.
The 31-year-old’s sorry campaign has been plagued by injuries, making just 10 league appearances from the bench, and his last start for the Whites coming in the 3-0 EFL Cup defeat to Middlesbrough in August.
Leeds have certainly not missed the striker’s presence on the pitch, with Daniel Farke‘s side currently atop the Championship table with eight matches remaining and promotion to the Premier League in their grasp.
Despite this, if the Whites do secure promotion back to the first tier of English football, Bamford is still likely to be part of the squad next season as his current deal runs until the summer of 2026.
Considering his extensive injury setbacks, it will be an extremely difficult task to offload his wages during the summer transfer window, but that will not stop the club from trying.
Patrick Bamford becomes forgotten figure at Leeds United
Leeds fans were ready for Bamford to retire at Elland Road when news of his injury emerged in January but the veteran will be in no mood to end his career on a sour note.
However, even if he is to return to full fitness, Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph will be ahead of him in the pecking order under Farke.
In addition to this, Wilfried Gnonto, Largie Ramazani and Dan James are all capable of playing through the middle and the manager is likely to prefer one of the younger players to someone who cannot be trusted to stay fit.
Bamford’s chances of ever playing for Leeds again could take another hit should Farke finally give in to peer pressure and call the highly anticipated 16-year-old Harry Gray up to the first-team match-day squad, having already been training with the senior players.
| Player | Games played | Goals | Assists |
| Patrick Bamford | 198 | 60 | 22 |
Elland Road faithful begging for Harry Gray debut
Unlike his brother, Archie Gray, the teenage superstar is a centre-forward and has already been impressing at Premier League 2 level this season, scoring twice in six appearances.
This comes after scoring eight goals in 11 games for Leeds’ Under-18s last term, with Gray gaining interest from the likes of Tottenham, though Paul Robinson told Football Insider that Spurs are unlikely to make a move.
Supporters are desperate for the 16-year-old to be given an opportunity to prove himself at the highest level, and while Farke is rarely one to hand out games to youngsters, he might not be able to turn this down.
Gray has shown a tremendous amount of potential at Thorp Arch, and with Leeds likely searching for a replacement for Bamford, he could solve the issue without the club needing to dive into the transfer market this summer.
And if one-time England international Bamford does see himself dropping even further down the pecking order at Elland Road he’d likely be all the more motivated to instruct his agent to find him an opportunity elsewhere, and maybe even take a reduced contract to make it happen.