Leeds United promotion hero Patrick Bamford joins club with previous striker controversy: report

Leeds United bid farewell to long-serving striker Patrick Bamford during the summer transfer window, parting company with the experienced forward deemed surplus to requirements by first-team boss Daniel Farke.

Bamford, 32, is now on the cusp of completing a transfer to LaLiga side Getafe, according to reports in Spain.

The Madrid-based club are believed to have offered the striker a contract which is ready to be signed upon the completion of a medical.

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Patrick Bamford closing in on LaLiga move according to reports

Patrick Bamford earned international recognition for his Leeds form in 2021

Bamford spent seven years at Leeds, scoring 60 goals in just over 200 appearances. The striker’s importance waned during the latter period of his Elland Road stay, featuring 18 times during last season’s Championship title-winning season for the Whites.

He failed to hit the back of the net throughout 2024/25. However, Bamford is fondly remembered in West Yorkshire for his role in two promotions to the Premier League, as well as his 17-goal top flight campaign in 2020/21 under Marcelo Bielsa.

Getafe coach Jose Bordalas (Image credit: Getty Images)

The one-cap England international is expected to join up with Jose Bordalas’ Getafe squad who currently sit eighth in Spain’s top flight.

Bamford will challenge the likes of Borja Mayoral and Adrian Liso for a place in Bordalas’ team, who are notoriously hard to beat.

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Leeds man Mateo Joseph, who leapfrogged Bamford in the Elland Road pecking order last season, is currently on loan at Getafe’s LaLiga rivals Real Mallorca and the pair could be reunited on opposing sides later this season.

Due to the period of time Bamford has spent out of regular match action, it may take some time for the 32-year-old to get up to speed with his soon-to-be new club.

(Image credit: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

That said, the player is likely to have October 19 in mind as a date he will aim to be ready for when Real Madrid visit Estadio Coliseum.

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Getafe visit the Santiago Bernabeu in the reverse fixture on March 1, 2026.

General view of Getafe’s Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium (Image credit: Getty Images)

Bamford’s soon-to-be boss Bordalas has previously drawn criticism for defending ex-Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, who spent 2023/24 on loan at Getafe.

“He is a free person, a footballer of a very high level and who arrives at Getafe with enormous enthusiasm, and we are obviously going to help him so that he recovers back to his best level,” Bordalas said upon signing the former England man.

“I have already commented what I had to comment. I can only speak on a football level. We all know the potential he has. He is a very young boy, he is still 21 years old and we can help him adapt to a situation.”

He also described Greenwood as a ‘great lad’ and ‘exemplary’ after he was allegedly insulted by Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham.

Mason Greenwood looks on after he is presented to the fans at the club’s Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium in September 2023. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Greenwood, now playing under Roberto De Zerbi at Olympique Marseille, was arrested back in 2022 after images and a voice note were posted online. The charges against him included attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and controlling and coercive behavior.

In February 2023, the United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced all charges against Greenwood had been dropped. The CPS stated the decision was made due to ‘the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material that came to light’, which left the prosecution no longer with a realistic prospect of conviction.

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