Not just Bamford: Leeds must sell a player who earns as much as Joseph
Leeds United moved up to third in the Championship table after they secured a superb 2-0 win against Sheffield United at Elland Road on Friday night.
Their opponents had kept six successive clean sheets in the second tier ahead of the clash but could not keep out Daniel Farke’s side, who won with relative ease.
Whilst it took until the 69th minute for them to open the scoring, through Pascal Struijk, the away side did not have a shot on target all game and did not create a single ‘big chance’.
Leeds, meanwhile, created three ‘big chances’ and had four shots on target in total, scoring from two of them, as they managed to break down a stubborn defence.
After Struijk opened the scoring, the Whites looked the more likely team to get the second in the game, rather than the Blades grabbing an equaliser, and Mateo Joseph made sure of the win with a composed finish in the 90th minute.
That goal from the academy graduate means that Joseph and Joel Piroe have now combined for six goals and six assists in the Championship this season, which means that Leeds are getting more than value for money from them.
Leeds United's highest earners
Per Capology, both strikers only earn £15k-per-week and are far from being among the top earners in the squad for the the 2024/25 campaign.
Only three players, Isaac Schmidt, Joe Rothwell, who is on loan from Bournemouth, and Alex Cairns are on less money, and all three of them are back-up options when all players are fit and available.
This means that Joseph and Piroe are the two lowest-paid regular starters, although Rothwell is currently enjoying a run of starts with Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev out through injury.
Patrick Bamford
£70k
Junior Firpo
£60k
Manor Solomon
£60k
Dan James
£50k
Pascal Struijk
£50k
Brenden Aaronson
£45k
Ethan Ampadu
£40k
Joe Rodon
£40k
Max Wober
£35k
Wilfried Gnonto
£30k
As you can see in the table above, Joseph and Piroe do not rank within the top ten earners at Elland Road, and earn half as much as the tenth-highest – Wilfried Gnonto.
Meanwhile, the highest-paid player in the squad, per these figures, is Patrick Bamford on a staggering £70k-per-week, more than twice as much as the other two strikers combined.
Daniel Farke, who has been linked with a swoop for RB Salzburg’s Adam Daghim, must now ruthlessly ditch the English forward from the squad when the January transfer window opens for business, if there are any suitors.
Why Patrick Bamford should be sold
The one-time England international has simply not done enough on the pitch to justify his huge wages, and it has been reported that he is open to leaving.
Football Insider recently claimed that the left-footed marksman is considering an exit from West Yorkshire at the end of the 2024/25 campaign, despite having a contract through to the summer of 2026.
The 31-year-old attacker is said to have grown frustrated with his lack of minutes on the pitch under Farke, as he has only made four appearances as a substitute in the Championship this season, and the club are open to letting him go.
Bamford has been behind Piroe and Joseph in the pecking order, and rightly so given their combined 12 goal contributions, and struggled when he was getting regular minutes last term.
Appearances
33
xG
9.52
Goals
8
Big chances missed
9
Key passes per game
0.4
Assists
1
As you can see in the table above, the experienced forward let himself down in front of goal last season by missing nine ‘big chances’ and underperforming against his xG.
He also rarely contributed as a creator for his teammates with less than one key pass every other game and only one assist in 33 Championship games.
Bamford is not the only forward who should be brutally binned by Farke in January, however, as Joe Gelhardt should also be moved on by the German head coach, due to his lack of impact whilst earning as much (£15k-per-week) as Joseph and Piroe.
Why Leeds should sell Joe Gelhardt
The young attacker is now 22 and is still yet to establish himself as a regular for Leeds, having initially made his breakthrough in the first-team in the 2021/22 campaign, with two goals in 20 Premier League outings.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
Gelhardt showed plenty of signs of promise in the top-flight in his teenage years, with two goals and four assists in 35 matches in the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch.
However, he has not kicked on since that initial show of promise and it may now be time for the Whites to cash in on him in January, if there are any interested parties.
The 22-year-old was sent out on loan to Sunderland to play regular minutes in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign and only scored three goals in 18 Championship matches.
Despite his lack of production during his time with the Black Cats, Farke opted to keep the young attacker in his squad for the 2023/24 season, having arrived at the club in the summer to lead the team back to the Premier League.
Appearances
10
2
Starts
2
0
Goals
0
0
Assists
0
0
Key passes per game
0.2
0
Big chances created
0
0
As you can see in the table above, Gelhardt has been rarely-seen at Championship level for the Whites since he returned from his loan with Sunderland in the summer of 2023.
The versatile forward has only played 12 times in the division and has not produced a single goal, assist, or ‘big chance’ created for the West Yorkshire outfit.
He is two years older than Joseph, who has already scored two goals and provided three assists in the league this season, and it seems unlikely, given their respective performances, that he is going to overtake the Spaniard any time soon.
Leeds thought they had a "frightening" Raphinha heir but he's already left
The Leeds forward only lasted one season at Elland Road before moving on.
ByDan Emery Oct 17, 2024
Therefore, Farke should look to cash in on the English dud when the next transfer window opens for business, and move him on alongside Bamford.