The next Patrick Bamford could be heading to Leeds this summer

2025/26 ended on a particularly positive note for Leeds United and for Daniel Farke, the German defying expectation to lead the Elland Road side to safety in comfortable fashion.

The Whites bucked the recent trend of swift relegations for newly promoted sides, now on stable footing and well-placed to kick on again this time around.

Of course, the Whites will be keen to avoid that dreaded ‘second season syndrome’, with the highs of 2020/21 memorably extinguished following a turbulent 2021/22 for the Yorkshire giants.

The likes of Patrick Bamford had been central to that initial success following promotion under Marcelo Bielsa, but the Englishman quickly fell away. Will the same fate befall Dominic Calvert-Lewin?

How Calvert-Lewin’s first season at Leeds compared to Bamford

Eyebrows were raised when Bielsa and co forked out £7m, rising to £10m, to sign Bamford in 2018, the journeyman striker having not exactly ripped it up prior to that in English football.

Nine goals followed that season, before he added a further 16 in a real standout 2019/20 campaign, repaying his transfer fee and then some as Leeds returned to the promised land.

Few would have expected the one-time Chelsea man to prove a hit upon promotion, but by September 2021 he was earning international recognition, having scored 17 and registered a further seven assists in 2020/21.

The elegant left-footer scored at a rate of one goal every 180 minutes, and while he did miss 21 ‘big chances’, his goal conversion rate did stand at 16%.

For comparison, in the case of Calvert-Lewin, the 28-year-old defied a few doubts himself following his free transfer move from Everton, having previously struggled for both form and fitness in recent years on Merseyside.

A key beneficiary of Farke’s winter tactical shift, the former Toffees talisman embarked on a stellar run of form, ultimately scoring 14 in his 30 starts, netting at a rate of one goal every 195 minutes.

He also missed 20 ‘big chances’, yet boasted a slightly superior goal conversion to Bamford of 19%, having firmly secured leading status at Elland Road.

Now, the question will be as to whether he can maintain it, with Bamford’s second top-flight season at Leeds having been wrecked by injury, as he scored just twice in nine games.

The question will also be as to what Calvert-Lewin might do with increased competition alongside him in Farke’s forward line.

The next Bamford could be on his way to Leeds

You have to hand it to Farke. He’s worked miracles not only for his own career but also for his players, reviving the fortunes of so many in recent times.

REUTERS/Craig Brough

Look at James Justin, a player much maligned at Leicester City, now Mr Dependable in Yorkshire. Look to Calvert-Lewin too, a player who’d scored just 12 league goals across the previous three seasons combined, now among the Premier League’s elite number nines again.

The hope will be that James Trafford, down on his luck at Manchester City, can enjoy a similar rise, with the same potentially set to be true of Liam Delap, should the Englishman head to Elland Road.

As reported by the i Paper, Leeds are one of the clubs to have shown ‘serious’ interest in the 23-year-old this summer, with Chelsea believed to be open to cashing in.

Signed from Ipswich Town for £30m a year ago, Delap could now fetch as much as £50m, with the Blues repeatedly showcasing their ability to rake in significant funds for even their unwanted players.

The Englishman certainly won’t come cheap for the 49ers, but nor did Bamford, the latter man swiftly quashing the doubters to reward the faith placed in him by Bielsa.

Before joining Leeds, Bamford had scored 11 Championship goals for Middlesbrough in 2017/18, albeit while reduced to a bit-part role in the two seasons before that in the Premier League, having also been on loan at Norwich City in 2015/16.

He’d been on a string of loans away from former club Chelsea, and hadn’t ever really established himself in the top flight. The scepticism was understandable, yet Bamford ultimately proved a hit.

The parallels are there to see with regard to Delap, the 23-year-old currently down on his luck following a miserable first year at Stamford Bridge.

Similar to Bamford at Chelsea, Delap never really made the breakthrough during his time on the books at Manchester City, heading out on his own string of loans in the EFL.

It wasn’t until 2023/24 where he really caught the eye with eight goals for Hull City in the second tier, that form convincing Ipswich to bring him in for their survival bid the following season.

Like Bamford at Leeds, Delap quickly dispelled the notion that he couldn’t make the jump to the Premier League from the Championship, scoring 12 times in 2024/25 even as the Tractor Boys suffered relegation.

He was a real surprise package that year, such a forceful figure when leading the line for Kieran McKenna’s side.

It hasn’t worked out in west London, but Bamford knows more than most how difficult it can be for a young English striker at Stamford Bridge – or for any number nine, for that matter.

Delap needs a fresh start and a fresh voice to guide him, and even if many might baulk at Chelsea’s potential asking price, he could well prove a real hit under the guidance of Farke. Can the 49ers get it done?