Patrick Bamford to undergo Leeds United medical ahead of £7m move

Bamford is set to complete a move to Elland Road in the next 48 hours, bringing an end to United’s painstaking search for a new centre-forward.

Leeds engaged Abel Hernandez and Matej Vydra at the start of the summer transfer window and believed they were close to landing Vydra from Derby County for £11m earlier this month until an unexpected increase in the Czech’s wage demands complicated negotiations.

The YEP revealed on Wednesday that United had been monitoring Bamford since talks with Vydra hit an impasse and the club moved to table a bid with Boro for the former Chelsea trainee despite further meetings with Vydra last week.

Bamford is looking to reignite his career having failed to shine during his second spell at The Riverside.

He was instrumental in Boro’s run to the Championship play-off final during a loan from Chelsea in the 2014-15 season, scoring 19 times, and the Teeside club paid £6m for a permanent deal in January 2017. That transfer was completed while United’s director of football Victor Orta was in charge of recruitment at Boro.

Bamford was in and out of their line-up last season but still managed to claim 13 goals, including a hat-trick in Leeds’ 3-0 defeat at The Riverside in March. Boro manager Tony Pulis, however, is ready to sacrifice him to raise transfer funds after seeing Adama Traore - the expected source of a large fee this summer - dislocate a shoulder in a friendly against Sunderland on Friday.

United’s successful bid for Bamford has ended their interest in Vydra, who priced himself out of an Elland Road move by asking for more than £50,000 a week in wages.

Leeds struggled without a reliable centre-forward last term having sold 30-goal striker Chris Wood to Burnley in August and replaced him with on-loan Hamburg striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga.

Bamford is in line to become United’s second permanent signing in the space of a few days following the arrival of left-back Barry Douglas from Wolverhampton Wanderers.