Patrick Bamford 'close' to return, Jesse Marsch arrival strengthens Leeds United's transfer hand

Patrick Bamford 'close' to return

Jesse Marsch confirmed yesterday that Patrick Bamford is "close" to returning to match fitness.

The Whites striker, who scored 17 Premier League goals last season, has missed 20 of the last 21 games to ankle, hamstring, and foot issues.

In his final pre-match press conference as Leeds boss, Marcelo Bielsa revealed ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur clash that is was 'probable' that Bamford would return before the end of the season.

Yesterday, the 28-year-old was back out on the grass and involved in team training.

Marsch explained his response to the LS11 injury crisis in his first press conference as United manager on Thursday,

"I can only tell you that on Monday I came here and met with the medical team and they introduced a whole myriad of injury situations to me," said Marsch.

"And there has been a little bit of a cycle here where guys have been fighting through injuries and often playing with injuries and it means that they have sometimes picked up other injuries and put themselves more in danger of missing minutes.

"So what I need to do is help guys recover as quickly as possible but not endanger them and not overload them to put them in situations to further be endangered, and then make sure that we have a long term vision in place for what that is going to mean."

Read the full story here.

James Maddison wary of Whites challenge

Leicester City attacker James Maddison has acknowledged the difficulty of facing a Leeds United team under new management.

The Whites will play their first game under new head coach Jesse Marsch against the Foxes at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It will be tough not knowing what to expect, according to Maddison.

"Unfortunately, we're that first game where we’re going to go in fairly blind," Maddison said.

"But it's still going to be played on grass with two goals at the end of each side so we’ll be looking to go and get three points at home in a game like that, definitely.”

Read the full story here.

Jesse Marsch arrival strengthens Leeds United's transfer hand

The arrival of new head coach Jesse Marsch could give Leeds United a significant boost in their pursuit of Brenden Aaronson, according to the Daily Star.

Leeds made several offers for the RB Salzburg midfielder, their number one transfer target, in the January transfer window but each bid was turned down.

The 21-year-old has made 5 assists and scored 3 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga so far this season.

Now, the arrival of Aaronson's compatriot, Marsch, at Elland Road, could help the West Yorkshire side land the American attacker as the new Whites boss has existing links to RB Salzburg.

Read the latest transfer rumours from around the Premier League here.

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