Paul Merson does u-turn on £10m Leeds player, Stelling ribbed him

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Paul Merson was made to eat his words by Leeds United hitman Patrick Bamford on Saturday.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side thumped Fulham 3-0 at Elland Road to move top of the Championship and gain an eight-point cushion in the automatic promotion spots.

But speaking before the game on Sky Sports, Merson questioned Bamford’s credentials as a goalscorer.

That came on the back of a disappointing performance away at Cardiff City last week, when the 26-year-old accidentally cost Leeds a goal by blocking Jack Harrison’s shot on the line.

However, Bamford, a £10 million signing in 2018 [BBC Sport], silenced Merson within 10 minutes of kickoff yesterday.

Running on to a cut-back from Helder Costa, the former Middlesbrough striker brilliantly steered the ball home from the edge of the box in a wonderful first-time finish – and with his weaker left foot.

Asked by Jeff Stelling on Sky Sports if he was eating his words, a smiling Merson said jokingly: “I said he scores big goals and he just scored a big goal here so you need to listen to me when I talk.

“Costa goes down the right-hand side, pulls it back for Bamford, it’s a great finish. He pulls it back to the edge of the box and there’s Bamford, 14 goals this season, he put that way like he’s scored 29 goals, it was a great finish.”