Danny Mills has told TEAMtalk that Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford should leave before the summer transfer window closes on September 1, with the former Elland Road star also giving his verdict on the signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Bamford has been on the books of Leeds since the summer of 2018 when he joined from Middlesbrough for a fee rising to £10million (€11.5m, $13.5m). The striker is under contract at the West Yorkshire club until the summer of 2026, but the 31-year-old, who has scored 60 goals and given 25 assists in 205 appearances for Leeds, does not have a future at Elland Road.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke has publicly said that Bamford does not feature in his plans and has told the striker that he is free to find another club.
The Whites, who are playing in the Premier League this season after winning automatic promotion from the Championship, have already signed Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer after the striker left Everton at the end of his contract.
Bamford, who joined Leeds at the start of Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure in the summer of 2018, has one year remaining on his contract and is understood to be one of the club’s highest-paid players.
Leeds have yet find to a buyer for the 31-year-old striker, who won a solitary England cap in 2021 and has been linked with a move to newly-promoted Championship side Wrexham in recent months.
With the transfer window set to slam shut in just over a week’s time, the clock is ticking on Bamford’s future.
Mills exclusively told TEAMtalk: “Everyone in football has different opinions but if the manager doesn’t fancy you then sometimes it’s best to make a clean break.
“Patrick has done fantastically well for Leeds United since he joined the club and managed to nick himself an England cap.
“He will always be remembered as a key figure in that side under Marcelo Bielsa who got Leeds back to the Premier League and then finish ninth in their first season back.
“But he didn’t play much last season under Daniel Farke – or the season before – and he’s had injuries as well.
“Football is ever changing and, if you stand still, you go backwards.”
Bamford is believed to earn around £70,000 per week at Leeds, who have brought in two new strikers this summer in Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.
Mills added: “I guess Leeds will let Patrick go for nothing – just to get him off the wage bill.
“Is he going to play this season? Probably not is the answer.
“Leeds will be thinking ‘if he sits on his contract and stays then we’re paying him anyhow, but if we can find a taker for him then he’s off the wage bill’.
“For the sake of his career, he needs to play because Leeds have shown their intentions this season by signing two new strikers and with Daniel Farke having come out and said Bamford is not in his plans.”
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin backed for Leeds success
While Mills believes that Bamford could be a success away from Elland Road, the former defender has backed Calvert-Lewin to succeed at Elland Road following his free transfer arrival this summer.
The former Everton striker has yet to make his bow for the Whites, but Mills said: “He’s a big, powerful centre-forward who can score goals in the Premier League.
“He’s proven that and if you can get him fit then he’s a real handful.”
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