Patrick Bamford opens up on Sheffield United twist of fate, Leeds United controversy and Coventry City U-turn clarity
Patrick Bamford opens up on Sheffield United twist of fate, Leeds United controversy and Coventry City transfer U-turn
Patrick Bamford has revealed how close he was to joining table-toppers Coventry City recently, before a last-minute U-turn opened the door for him to sign for Sheffield United instead. The 32-year-old had a spell as a free agent this summer after leaving Leeds United.
A number of opportunities came and went before he linked up with the Sky Blues, through a connection with their manager Frank Lampard from their days together at Chelsea. But Bamford subsequently put pen-to-paper on a short-term deal at Bramall Lane.
He is in line to make his Blades bow in Sunday’s Steel City derby at Hillsborough but had things gone as originally planned he could have been preparing for Coventry’s home clash with West Brom this weekend instead.
“I had quite a lot options through the summer that either didn't quite fit, in terms of where I thought I was in my career, or I wasn't ready to move to certain places just yet,” Bamford said, as he met the local media ahead of Sunday’s derby.
“Obviously, I've got a family to think about as well. Then the Coventry one came up. It was an interesting one and obviously I knew Frank from my time at Chelsea. So I went down and I thought either way, training with the team is better than [training on his own].
“I’d obviously been working hard every day with the guy that I work with, but it's not the same. Training with the team is a lot better. So I went down there and obviously everything was pretty much done.
Patrick Bamford opens up on Sheffield United twist of fate, Leeds United controversy and Coventry City transfer U-turn
“And then the owner decided that he didn't want to do the deal, that the team was flying. Which they are. I have no hard feelings towards him whatsoever, it’s completely fine. I obviously spoke to Frank, he apologised and just said that he was happy to have me in there.
“It's a shame that it didn't go through, but I just said that I was really grateful for him letting me train and obviously get my fitness up. Which actually helped because then, when I came in here, it's obviously made it a lot easier in terms of hitting the ground running.
“So when that fell through, Chris rang me. We spent 20 minutes on the phone, I came here on Wednesday and within two hours, it was done. So it wasn't like I needed much convincing. And obviously I have spoken to Chris before, a few months back.”
That phone call came about after Bamford was filmed starting a chant about Wilder in the midst of Leeds’ promotion celebrations, a furore that was quickly played down by the United boss at the time and was no obstacle to his signing this week.
“I had obviously had a few drinks,” said Bamford of that incident, “and the next day when the video came out, I remember my mum was panicking, saying: ‘Why have you started that?’ And so I thought I should ring Chris and try and clear the air a little bit.
“So I rang him. I remember sitting there, waiting for him to answer, thinking: ‘He's going to absolutely have a right go at me.’ But he didn’t. It was so refreshing. He was so nice, and he completely understood.
“And he knew because a few years before we'd had a little bit then as well. So there were no hard feelings. And after I'd said: ‘Look, I'm sorry for starting it,’ he didn’t care about it. And then we just had a chat about football for 20 minutes.
“It was nice. And so then, when he rang me on the Tuesday night, I kind of knew what he was like. In football I think it's rare that you come across a manager who is exactly as you see him. It’s straightforward, just he says it how it is, he's honest. And for me, that's so super refreshing.”