Patrick Bamford is among the players at Leeds United who face a potentially uncertain summer.
Bamford was unavailable for both of Leeds’ last two regular season matches, and the whole of the play-offs, after picking up an injury in the win over Middlesbrough in April.
Though Leeds won 11 of the 15 matches Bamford started over the course of the league season, it is now the third year in a row which he has been injured at the business end for.
Clearly this current issue was a complete freak with it only initially diagnosed as major bruising, but he simply cannot be relied on over the course of a long Championship campaign.
However, after Leeds’ defeat to Southampton in the play-off final on Sunday, Bamford could reportedly be one of the players who move on this summer, six years on from his arrival at Boro.
Bamford shares ‘bonkers’ Ezgjan Alioski verdict after time at Leeds
The last few years have been far from ideal for Bamford and while he has always split opinion at Elland Road, there is no denying he was a big part of Marcelo Bielsa’s success.
That team who won promotion will forever go down in folklore at Leeds, particularly after this season’s failure considering the standard of the squad.
More and more of that Bielsa team have gradually left over the last few years, with Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas, Luke Ayling and potentially even Bamford’s exits this summer effectively bringing an end to that era.
Pablo Hernandez, Gaetano Berardi and Ezgjan Alioski were the first three of that side to leave Leeds after just one season in the Premier League.
And on the latest episode of the ‘My Mate’s A Footballer Podcast‘, Bamford has claimed the latter is someone he would’ve hated playing against.
He said: “Do you remember we had a left full-back called Alioski, absolute bonkers. The person you would love him on your team, but if he was against you, you’d hate it. Honestly, he was hilarious in the changing room and a really good guy.”
Who else could leave Leeds this summer?
As mentioned, this summer feels like the end of an era at Leeds with three of the old guard in Cooper, Dallas and Ayling all leaving.
However, after missing out on promotion, Bamford is not the only one who could be heading for the exit door.
Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray, Willy Gnonto and Georginio Rutter have all been touted as potential departures, which would leave Leeds in for a major rebuilding job when the window re-opens.
LeedsUnited.News have actually predicted the future of all 36 players currently on Leeds’ books, and there are more who could go this summer, than you might think.