167: Patrick Bamford, Leeds United, Panini 2021/22 Premier League Adrenalyn Trading Card Game

The announcement last week that the British government had frozen Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s assets as part of the sanctions being levied against Russia has had a wide ranging impact on the Stamford Bridge club. Supporters have been prevented from purchasing match tickets or merchandise and the club has effectively been placed under its second transfer embargo in recent memory. Whether or not the lifting of this will be celebrated by the signing of several overpriced Bundesliga stars and the sacking of a supposed club legend is yet to be seen but spare a thought for Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem who have benefitted from nearly thirty loan transfers from the Blues. During their time at Chelsea the likes of Nemanja Matic, Patrick van Aanholt and Mason Mount have all had successful spells in the Eredivisie spring boarding them on to greater things.

Vitesse have not been the only beneficiaries of Chelsea’s inflated squad and impressive youth set up in recent years. Crystal Palace are currently enjoying the talents of Conor Gallagher and were lucky enough to witness the rare sight of Michy Batshuayi briefly living up to his promise in the first of his spells at Selhurst Park. This season alone the likes of Besiktas, Blackpool, Reading and Rosenborg are hosting West London’s up and coming talent and it will be interesting to see how far some of these young stars go in the future. Some may go on to establish themselves in one of the most gifted sides in European football but many more may find themselves farmed out on loan once again or perhaps even sold. And that’s before you take any potential sanctions or sale of the club into consideration.

Loan transfers can be the making of a player but they can also push them further and further away from the promised land of their parent club’s first team. After just four months, and two games, of his breakthrough season Patrick Bamford had evidently done enough to attract the attention of Chelsea who shelled out £1.5m to bring the young striker to Stamford Bridge in January 2012. He scored twice in his first appearance for the reserves but was loaned out to MK Dons in November 2012 and, across the next year, netted an impressive 21 goals for the League One side demonstrating his fledgling talent. Within a day of his return to his parent club he was once again sent out on loan, this time to Championship side Derby County, where he scored a further eight goals to help the Rams reach the play-off final. Ahead of the 2014/15 campaign he was farmed out to Middlesbrough for the season where a further nineteen goals in all competitions, including one to dump Manchester City out of the FA Cup, landed Bamford in his second consecutive play-off final. The Blues clearly thought it was time the forward enjoyed some Premier League football but rather than hand him a start in the early stages of the 2015/16 season they instead sent him down the road to Selhurst Park. He failed to score in his nine outings and terminated his loan at Palace citing frustration at his lack of first team opportunities and found himself once again on loan at Norwich City where his seven appearances also failed to yield any goals.

At the start of the 2016/17 campaign Bamford was sent out for his last loan spell, this time at Burnley, and after six appearances, no goals and an apparent clash with Clarets’ boss Sean Dyche, he returned to Stamford Bridge on 14th January 2017. Four days later his five year stay at Chelsea came to an end when he moved on a permanent deal to Middlesbrough for £5.5m despite a less than fruitful season and a half and without making a single first team appearance for the Blues. One goal in eight games failed to save Boro from Premier League relegation, which was confirmed by a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge of all places, but Bamford rediscovered his shooting boots in the Championship contributing thirteen goals in all competitions to help his new side into the play-offs. New Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa spent £7m to bring the striker to Elland Road and ten goals in 25 appearances saw Bamford once again endure play-off disappointment as Derby County, spurred on by the apparent spying of Bielsa’s staff at their training ground, scored a semi-final victory. In the 2019/20 season Leeds finally returned to the Premier League with Bamford’s sixteen goals key to their promotion.

Considering his travails at the top level in his earlier career little was expected of Bamford in Leeds’ first season back in the top flight since 2004. Three goals in the first three games of the 2020/21 season quickly changed many doubters’ minds and an excellent hat-trick against Aston Villa in October 2020 led to some pundits suggesting he could have an outside chance of being part of Gareth Southgate’s plans for the delayed Euro 2020 tournament. By the end of the season Bamford had notched seventeen goals as Leeds finished in an impressive ninth place with their brand of high-energy attacking football winning over many neutrals. Perhaps due to his lack of experience at right back Bamford did not make the England squad for the European Championships but his continued good form in the early stages of the 2021/22 season saw him earn his first cap in a 4-0 win over Andorra in October 2021.

Although Bamford couldn’t replicate the goalscoring exploits of Francis Jeffers or Dave Nugent on international debut it would not come as a surprise if the striker were to add to his Three Lions’ caps in the coming years. Leeds have certainly struggled without his goals this season as a series of injuries have kept him out of the side. Back in West London Chelsea began the season by shelling out £97.5m to bring Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge with limited impact. When you consider the £47.5m the Blues spaffed on Timo Werner the previous year it does make you wonder whether a bit of patience or risk taking could have seen Bamford do a job at the club he spent so long being sent away from. It might be worth keeping half an eye on those returning to West London at the end of this season from their various gap years.