"I do reckon" - Ex-Leeds United star reveals Patrick Bamford transfer prediction | OneFootball

Patrick Bamford will remain at Leeds United beyond the summer, according to former Whites midfielder David Norris.

Daniel Farke is planning for another season in the Championship after Leeds fell just short of promotion to the Premier League after finishing third in the league and losing to Southampton in the play-off final.

Failure to seal promotion, coupled with the need to comply with the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), means Leeds will in all likelihood have to sacrifice at least one of their prized assets this summer.

Chairman Paraag Marathe has already stated that the club "need to make trade-offs" in the aftermath of their Wembley defeat and the likes of Championship Player of the Year Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter and Wilfried Gnonto are set to be in high demand.

David Norris makes Patrick Bamford prediction

But Norris, who spent three seasons at Leeds between 2012 and 2015, does not expect Bamford to be among the departures this summer.

“I think he will still be there next season. I don’t think he’s desperate to leave, and I don’t think Leeds are desperate to move him on," he told MOT Leeds News.

"He seems a good lad, well-liked – albeit with that sort of up-and-down relationship with the fans.

“He’s had these rumours before and he’s always stayed through it, so I do reckon Leeds keep him.”

Bamford has endured a rollercoaster spell at Leeds since joining the club from Middlesbrough in a deal worth up to £10m in the summer of 2018.

The 30-year-old has scored 60 goals and has registered 22 assists in 187 appearances in all competitions for the Whites.

Bamford played a crucial role in Leeds' promotion to the Premier League in the 2019-20 season under Marcelo Bielsa, scoring 17 goals in 45 matches and then netting 17 in 38 Premier League matches the following term to help his team to safety.

Patrick Bamford's injury problems at Leeds

But his form has waned since Bielsa's departure, with Bamford scoring just 16 goals in all competitions in three seasons since, during which he missed a total of 40 games through a combination of ankle, groin, foot and knee injuries.

Norris' prediction over Bamford's future comes after The Athletic journalist Phil Hay also claimed the forward will remain in Yorkshire in the upcoming transfer window, suggesting his salary makes him difficult to afford for a number of Championship clubs who would otherwise be interested.

“For Bamford it’s a little bit more difficult, partly because his wage will be high, so it’s not like it’s a salary that Championship clubs can easily pick up," Hay told the Square Ball on 8 June.

“There was some talk last season in January about Forest being semi-keen on Bamford, but I don’t know how much interest there would be in the Premier League as a whole at the moment.

“Of the teams who have gone up he doesn’t seem to be someone who would particularly fit Leicester or Southampton or Ipswich, and that seems to me to be one of the positions where they [Leeds United] need to think about what they are going to do.”

With Leeds braced for the potential departure of Summerville or Gnonto, a fit-again Bamford would be a useful option for Farke next season and the German will be hoping the striker can rediscover some of the form he showed last winter, when he scored seven times in 10 appearances to help them keep their promotion push.