Patrick Bamford is clearly a much better striker than he was before joining Leeds United.
The 27-year-old hitman signed for the Whites from Middlesbrough in 2018 for £10 million.
Despite never being one of the Championship’s most prolific marksmen at Leeds, head coach Marcelo Bielsa is a huge fan of the Englishman who, when fit, plays.
That’s as true now as it was last season, when Bielsa constantly snubbed Eddie Nketiah in favour of Bamford.
But the Argentine doesn’t have to defend his faith in Bamford on a regular basis any longer, because he’s ripping up the Premier League.
The former Boro star has six goals in as many top-flight games for the Whites so far, including a hat-trick in the win at Aston Villa last time out.
As a goalscorer, Bamford has come on leaps and bounds, but Dominic Matteo has written in The Yorkshire Evening Post that the player – who has two yellow cards this season, committing 29 fouls in all – is also developing something of a nasty streak.
He said: “Patrick seems to have found that bit of a ‘nasty streak’ too, which is great to see. I feel like people used to look at him and think he is a bit ‘nice’ and that they could get in and around him, but you see him now taking on the likes of Tyrone Mings head to head and it’s exactly what you need.
“His goals were of real quality and he has just had this willingness to learn and improve since he came to the club, like a lot of those who have made it under Marcelo so far.”
Bamford has never been much of a shrinking violet and he does have a touch of Diego Costa about him at times in terms of personality, but so long as he keeps scoring, Bielsa and Leeds fans won’t care one iota.
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