The 23-year-old was strongly linked with a loan move to Villa Park during the summer but ultimately joined Burnley instead.
Aston Villa owner Tony Xia has admitted that the club failed in an attempt to sign Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford on loan during the summer transfer window.
Bamford, who worked with Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo during the Italian’s time in charge at Stamford Bridge, was strongly linked with a move to B6 last month but ultimately ended up joining Premier League new boys Burnley instead on a temporary deal for the 2016-17 campaign.
Writing on Twitter, Xia explained that Di Matteo pulled out all the stops to try to convince his former player to make the move to Villa Park, but the 23-year-old forward was only interested in top-flight offers.
Bamford, who joined Chelsea from boyhood club Nottingham Forest in January 2012, has previously enjoyed success in the second tier, having hit 17 goals in 38 league appearances while on loan at Middlesbrough two seasons ago to win the Football League’s Championship Player of the Year award.
The former England Under-21 international also netted eight times in 21 games during a previous temporary spell with Derby County over the second half of the 2013-14 campaign, but he is yet to make an impact at the Premier League level.
After joining Crystal Palace last summer on a season-long deal, the ex-Forest youngster made just six goalless appearances before opting to cut his stint short in December, while he then failed to find the back of the net in seven matches after moving to Norwich City the following month for the rest of the campaign.
Villa, meanwhile, eventually found their new striker after missing out on Bamford, snapping up Jonathan Kodjia from Bristol City for a reported £11 million fee that could rise to £15 million with add-ons.
The 26-year-old Ivorian finished as the Championship’s fourth-highest scorer last term with 19 goals in 45 games to help steer the Robins’ away from relegation, but questions have still inevitably been raised over his hefty price tag.
Asked at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s visit of Nottingham Forest whether the club had paid over the odds for their new front man, Di Matteo told reporters: “There was a big demand for strikers during the window and he had Premier League clubs after him as well.
“For strikers you always have to pay a premium. The price was driven by the demand for the player. That’s the market – if there is demand you have to pay a bit more.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
