Our View: £10m Leeds player knew this was coming

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Nobody is more surprised at Patrick Bamford’s form this season than Leeds United fans.

The 27-year-old has taken the Premier League by storm, scoring six goals in as many top-flight games for the Whites.

In fact, Bamford also netted a hat-trick in the drubbing of Aston Villa last week.

Some Leeds fans have backed him throughout his two-year stint in West Yorkshire but, really, the majority haven’t given him an easy ride – and it’s understandable because Bamford, at times, was a very frustrating player in the Championship, often missing gilt-edged chances.

Many of the Elland Road faithful will be shocked to see him adapt so well to the big time, but Bamford knew he was capable of this.

He told TalkSPORT this afternoon that it would be a ‘dream come true’ if he were to earn an England cap and, on this form, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

But the Leeds star, a £10 million signing in 2018 [BBC Sport], must’ve always known that he was capable of firing his way into the conversation at international level.

After all, why else would he constantly reject Mick McCarthy’s attempts to get him to play for the Republic of Ireland?

Bamford is eligible for the Boys in Green and “I’m not going chasing him anymore” was the message from McCarthy in the summer of 2019 after repeatedly trying to get him to declare for his then-side.

Even back then, a month after finishing a nine-goal season in the Championship, the Grantham-born marksman must have known he had the quality to make a splash in the Premier League if Leeds were to get there.

Every player wants an international career to go along with their club career, and snubbing the Irish in the hope that one day the Three Lions would come knocking was a massive gamble at the time.

When he spun the wheel on his international prospects, it looked borne out of hope but now everybody can see it was expectation, that with six goals in his first six Premier League games for Leeds, Bamford is as talented a goalscorer as he himself has always known.