Sheffield United have blocked the doors for Wrexham to pounce their star striker whose future was the subject of rumours going into the January transfer window.
Right now, Wrexham are more than content with their attacking depth for the Championship. A significant chunk of fans must have held some scepticism for the current front three back in August, but right now, they feel tailor made for boss Phil Parkinson’s system.
Just imagine, if Ollie Rathbone had turned into a shadow of his former self following his recovery. Or, too good to be labelled as substitutes, Matty James and Sam Smith have not turned a corner for the better.
Where would Wrexham be? Defensively, the Reds might be parking the bus and getting away with it on their lucky days.
However, there’s no substitute for scoring goals. Better put, the Red Dragons would be resting their hopes only on tall striker Kieffer Moore to remain in good shape and scoring touch always.
Wrexham had valid reasons to pursue Patrick Bamford transfer
Beyond him, the only alternative would have been to distribute the scoring load across the pitch. Around November, the Reds were forced to deal with a similar issue when Moore limped off with an injury.
Then, Wrexham glanced at England international Patrick Bamford to fill Moore’s boots for the time being. Despite that, for any reason the Bamford to Wrexham transfer remained a mere rumour worth exploring in the future.
Sheffield United came calling for Bamford, which was a boost for the struggling striker’s morale in hindsight. As a Blade, the 32 year old got the opportunity to prove his knack for goal. Including against Wrexham, where Bamford left the home crowd at Racecourse anxious worrying how worse the full-time scoreline can turn out to be.
It’s a different story, that the Dragons clocked a commendable win from there on. Understandably, there were gloomy faces and Wrexham shirts in the Sheffield United locker room but their tension wasn’t limited to that night’s defeat.
Sheffield United had Patrick Bamford worry ahead of January
With January around the corner, the Patrick Bamford transfer rumours started popping up again. Picture this for a moment. A striker in the form of his life, running the show for an in-form Championship team who were growing more confident by the day about their top 10 finish hopes.
Why would his future lie in doubt? Simple reason, Bamford’s Sheffield United contract was nearing it’s end. In November, the attacker came to Sheffield United with an objective to get his career back on track.
That goal was achieved with a short-term contract, and after that Bamford could have narrowed his new club search to only those teams who had strong prospects of reaching to the Premier League. Jumping ships for a better team is indeed fair, after all.
It’s only now with Sam Smith’s resurgence that Wrexham don’t require more firepower up top. Touchwood, but if one of them faces a lengthy duration on the sidelines, the squad instantly suffers from a lack of precision and wasted chances up front.
In comparison, Bamford is more reliable, tried and tested as well as a proven Premier League striker than both Smith and Moore. Swooping for him could thus, have been profitable for Wrexham both to handle the Championship tasks as well as Premier League duties, hopefully from the next season.
Sheffield United block doors for Wrexham to sign Bamford
Those dreams have come to a dead end, now. Dropping a Bamford announcement, Sheffield United’s official website wrote: “The experienced forward, who has scored five times in six starts since penning a short-term deal at Bramall Lane back in November, has now agreed terms on an 18-month contract until the summer of 2027.”
With Bamford not going anywhere in January, Sheffield United have blocked the doors for Wrexham to pounce upon the Three Lions striker if they wanted to. The hope remains that this transfer saga doesn’t come to haunt the Reds ever.
