Premier League is spicing up in a spectacular manner, living up to the billing in terms of the animosity, excitement and top quality of football that it offers on its tray. Just like the rivalry at the upper half of the league table, things are shaping up pretty well in the bottom half as well, particularly at the vicinity of the relegation zone. The fight for staying beyond this term depends on how well the teams placed in the bottom half of the table perform for the remainder of the season.
Middlesbrough are placed sixteenth in the league table and are very much in the relegation fistfight. Their manager, Aitor Karanka, has been pretty proactive in the transfer window, being very clear of the targets he aimed for. Having already signed Rudy Gestede from Aston Villa earlier in the ongoing transfer window, Karanka is apparently very close to signing Chelsea’s forward, Patrick Bamford on a permanent deal.
Bamford has played a total of 34 minutes with Burnley this season, which is unarguably a negligible amount of time which was handed to the youngster. His loan spells (before moving to the Turf Moor) at Crystal Palace and Norwich City weren’t much fruitful either, and considering that the Englishman is entering the last eighteen months of his contract with the league leaders, it looks unlikely that it would be renewed.
Bamford had a superb spell with Middlesbrough in the 2014-15 season, where he scored 19 goals and was adjudged as the Championship Player of the Year, but he failed to push the side into the Premier League. However, the 23-year-old forward, if the deal materialises, would leave the Stamford Bridge without bagging any senior appearance to his name due to the plethora of stars in the ranks of Chelsea.
Bamford is a promising youngster with a wide range of attributes. He works hard up the pitch, creates chances, stretches the defence and has an excellent knack for goals. What is the best quality in him is his versatility of being effective and efficient up front as well as on the wings for any side he plies his trade in.
Middlesbrough are clearly aiming to bolster their attacking ranks as much as they can in the ongoing transfer window. Karanka’s side have relied very much on Álvaro Negredo in the first half of the season but clearly, with his interest in bringing Bamford to the Riverside Stadium, it appears like he is looking beyond this season and is aiming to create a base for an upward trajectory. Although he had a couple of unsuccessful seasons, Bamford needs a word of confidence to get back to his scoring ways once again.
