Newcastle Transfer News Round-Up: Every Player The Magpies Have Been Linked With From June 15th-21st
9. Patrick Bamford (Chelsea)
Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford has reportedly turned down the opportunity to reunite with his former manager Steve McClaren at Newcastle United. The Magpies made an enquiry for the 21-year-old forward but Bamford has decided he wants to fight for a first-team place at the Premier League champions, according to The Times. Chelsea have reportedly offered Bamford a new five-year deal but are open to allowing him to leave on loan for a season in order to gain Premier League experience, with both Newcastle and McClaren keen to bring him to St James Park. However, the 21-year-old forward - who netted 19 goals during 43 appearances while on loan at Middlesbrough last season - grew frustrated during a spell under McClaren at Derby County in 2014 and instead hopes to impress Jose Mourinho during Chelsea's pre-season tour to the USA. Despite netting eight times for the Rams, Bamford became disillusioned with being continuously shifted out to a wide berth by former England boss McClaren, so that is likely to have affected any such deal. Alongside Newcastle, the likes of Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Everton were also waiting in the wings to snap up the forward on loan for next season, however that now looks unlikely. Mourinho visited Brentfords Griffin Park last month to watch Bamford during Boros first-leg play-off tie with the west London club - and the Portuguese boss was impressed by what he saw. Having started his career at Nottingham Forest, Bamford moved to Chelsea in 2012 and has enjoyed loan spells at Milton Keynes Dons, Derby and Boro since. The twice-capped England Under-21 international has netted a total of 48 goals in 112 career matches to date, an impressive record for someone who can play as a striker or as a wider forward.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.