Leeds United fans were surprised when Patrick Bamford left the club. After years at Elland Road, the player and club finally agreed to mutually terminate the contract.
Daniel Farke already made it clear to him that he would not be part of his plans this season. This was down to Bamford’s availability, he has spent most of Farke’s reign at Leeds injured. So the German felt it right to exclude him from the upcoming season. The contract termination came as a bit of a shock, as many thought he would join another club in the transfer window.
Leeds have since added Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin as center forward options. Nmecha scored in the club’s first Premier League game of the season.
QUIZ: Can you name the team Leeds United signed these players from in the 2000s?
Leeds United chief knows new signings present a risk
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Credit: Imago Images
Many fans were not convinced about letting Bamford go and replacing him with Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin. To them, they see it as replacing an injury prone striker with two more injury prone players. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has never been the same since his breakout season at Everton, and has missed a chunk of games in the last few seasons. Nmecha is in the same boat, having missed a lot of games at Wolfsburg.
When asked about the duo’s injury history, Leeds United managing director Robbie Evans says the club knew the risks when they signed them:
“So first of all, we’re well aware of the risk, and it was a key consideration in acquiring them. Secondly, we have tremendous faith in our medical team, and that’s evidenced by the success of recent years with Junior Firpo, Sam Byram, Manor Solomon, and further capital investments this year in keeping players healthy at Thorp Arch.”
“When you acquire any player you know you’re making a sacrifice somewhere as far as their age, their experiences, their ceiling, their character, their injury history, something is not going to be perfect unless they are the highly expensive perfect player for us.”
