Patrick Bamford has once again become the attention of Leeds United fans following a goalless start to the 2024/25 season.
After two games, both at Elland Road, Leeds has one draw and one defeat, with six goals surrendered. Portsmouth returned to the south coast with a point from their first Championship encounter, but Middlesbrough humiliated Daniel Farke’s team in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
In both games, Bamford appeared lost, out of his element, and absolutely ineffective.
To be fair to the former Chelsea striker, he played only 11 minutes as a substitute in the draw against Portsmouth, but according to WhoScored figures, he only completed one of the three passes he tried, and his only effort at goal went wide, resulting in an xG of just 0.1 [FBRef].
Farke, on the other hand, trusted Bamford from the outset and gave the striker his first competitive start since netting in a 4-3 away win against Middlesbrough on April 22nd.
Leeds fans had to put up with a completely different Bamford than the one who scored in that game, as stats from Fotmob show that he only had one shot at goal, which went well wide of the target, had only 22 touches in the entire 90 minutes he played, didn’t complete a single dribble, and lost four of the five duels he contested.
Overall, it was a shocking performance from the 30-year-old, and it’s incredible that Leeds are still pursuing the former England international.
Will Leeds United sell Patrick Bamford before the August deadline?
This summer, Leeds supporters bid farewell to Archie Gray, Glen Kamara, and Crysencio Summerville, and Georginio Rutter appears to be on his way to do the same [Florian Plettenberg].
Nobody wanted those four guys to leave over the summer. It was assumed that there would be interest. However, the loss of all four key players from last season in one fell swoop is disheartening for Leeds fans all around the world.
But there’s one man who’s surviving the nuclear fallout at Elland Road: Bamford, who has been kept on despite not doing much for the Whites since COVID passports were still in use.
After scoring 17 goals in 38 Premier League games in 2021/22, Bamford has been plagued by injuries, and when he has played, he has been totally terrible, notwithstanding a brief stint last season.
He’ll be 31 next month and still has two years left on his deal, which is expected to be one of the highest-paid at Elland Road.
Perhaps there are no buyers for him because he is so bad at scoring goals, or perhaps the prospect of his earning a lot of money at Leeds is deterring potential suitors.
In any case, Leeds appear to have made no effort to break ways with a player who has been a has-been at Elland Road for quite some time.
