63 wins, 1.59 PPG, 8 combined goals: How did Patrick Bamford perform alongside Jack Harrison at Leeds United? | OneFootball

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has been back in the starting lineup in recent months, and has been at his best again since the turn of the year.

It's Bamford's sixth season with the club, having signed for Leeds in the summer of 2018 from Middlesbrough, for an initial fee in the region of £7 million, which could rise to £10 million with add-ons.

Patrick Bamford's Leeds United impact

Bamford had suffered from a loss of fitness and form prior to this season, with the 30-year-old earning England call-ups off the back of a 17-goal Premier League haul a few years ago.

Injuries have since caught up to him, but the team has functioned extremely well since his re-introduction to the starting 11.

Bamford has improved the side immeasurably by freeing up Georginio Rutter to be at his best. He is able to continue to be a creative player, but in a deeper role as one of the three behind the centre-forward.

Whilst the 30-year-old can allow the team to get up the pitch with his intensity off the ball proving to be far more effective than the likes of Joel Piroe.

On August 19, 2021, Bamford signed a new five-year contract with Leeds, meaning, as things stand, the striker's contract has two-and-a-half years left on it - his current deal at Elland Road runs until the summer of 2026.

The club could not have known that Bamford would suffer from multiple injuries that season and return in a worse-off state than the striker who ended the 2020/21 season as the Premier League's fourth top goalscorer.

The two seasons following that saw Bamford notch eight goals and a further seven assists in 42 appearances in total.

However, it was during that campaign in the United Kingdom's COVD-19 lockdown that the once-capped England international had a very fruitful relationship with Leeds' wide players, and, in particular, Jack Harrison on the left-wing, who was a virtually ever-present player under Marcelo Bielsa.

Jack Harrison's Leeds career

Meanwhile, Harrison's future with the club looks all but over, after Everton completed the signing of the winger in the summer on a season-long loan from Leeds, where he has been heavily involved at Goodison Park.

If Everton survive and can free up the funds for him, then it's fairly likely that's where his future will be.

He's not the flashiest player but is a consistently reliable output for both goals and assists; although, many Leeds fans felt they came in purple patches rather than a steady spread over the course of a season.

He went on to make 206 appearances for Leeds in his five-year stint in West Yorkshire, scoring 34 goals and registering a further 32 assists in the process, but appears to have played his last game for the club.

Harrison initially enjoyed three successive loans to Leeds from Manchester City, but the third of which contained an option-to-buy clause, reported to be worth around £11 million, which Leeds activated at the end of the 2020/21 season.

However, he took some time to get going at Elland Road, but became a reliable contributor as he developed each season under Bielsa.

Harrison has four-and-a-half years left on his deal with Leeds until the summer of 2028, but spent five seasons playing alongside Bamford for Leeds, having both joined the club in the same summer.

Bamford and Harrison had actually crossed paths briefly during the season prior, with Harrison loaned to Middlesbrough at the back end of the season, where they featured together four times, and the winger assisted Bamford once during the final game of the season.

Per Transfermarkt, in the 206 appearances for the Whites that Jack Harrison made during his stint at Leeds, Bamford was involved in 138 of those games, playing 9,189 minutes together, and winning 63 of those fixtures, drawing 28, and losing 47 times across both the Premier League and Championship, as well as both domestic cups.

In terms of PPG (points per game) they accumulated 1.59 together, although Bamford had a better record alongside the likes of Kalvin Phillips and Pablo Hernandez, at a rate of over 1.83 PPG for the West Yorkshire outfit.

The pair combined to score or assist for one another on eight occasions, which is more than any other pairing during the Bielsa, Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, and Sam Allardyce period of the club.

In that time, the only player to have featured alongside Bamford as often was Luke Ayling, who combined with Bamford for seven goals.

Meanwhile, Harrison featured more frequently in games alongside Ayling and Mateusz Klich; likely due to Bamford's time on the treatment table in the latter two seasons in the top-flight.

However, it's unlikely that the duo feature together in a Leeds shirt again, but at least Whites fans have plenty of joint goals to savour, such as that crucial one in 2020 at Bramall Lane.