A few months ago, candid words from Patrick Bamford regarding his loan move to Crystal Palace made us feel warm and fuzzy inside about the English striker who despite being far from a place at Chelsea first-team, still had Stamford Bridge in his sights. But life isn't a bed of roses, and as Bamford seems to be out of Alan Pardew's favour, Chelsea have grown worried of yet another bad season-long loan move, claims the London Evening Standard.
Along with Nathaniel Chalobah at Napoli, Bamford has barely featured for his current club, having accumulated only 16 minutes in two Premier League appearances as a substitute, while starting one League Cup match against Shrewsbury in his first three months with Crystal Palace. Bamford himself claimed he wanted to move to a London club in his Guardian interview last month despite interest from several clubs outside the city and now Chelsea are worried the move wasn't the best for him despite the good intentions.
According to the Standard report, Chelsea's loan contracts now include a clause in which clubs who take their youngsters pay less fees the more the player plays. Still, the clause doesn't seem to have made any impact in Bamford and Chalobah's cases. It is also believed that both players might return to Stamford Bridge in January before the end of their current loan deals, as it is also another feature included in their contracts.
Nevertheless, it's frustrating to see Bamford suffering from a bad loan move. Many of us -- myself included -- hoped he could make a great impact at Crystal Palace; but in hindsight, maybe Chelsea could have influenced him on choosing a club with less competition in his position. Hopefully we can cut our losses in January, as club and player himself can't afford having his progress being stalled any longer by the lack of playing time.