Derby County 'expected to loan Patrick Bamford'

By Joe Fish, Reporter | 02 January 2014

Chelsea's young striker Patrick Bamford will reportedly join Championship outfit Derby County on loan once his prolific spell at MK Dons ends on January 5.

Chelsea youngster Patrick Bamford is reportedly poised to join Derby County on loan until the end of the season after playing his last game for MK Dons.

The 20-year-old striker scored 16 goals in 28 appearances for the League One outfit, but his parent club now want him to spend the second half of the season playing at a higher standard.

Dons boss Karl Robinson says that "four or five" Championship clubs are vying for Bamford's signature, but BBC Radio Derby claims that the promotion-chasing Rams have won the race for his services.

Steve McClaren has borrowed talent from some of the country's top clubs since taking over the East Midlands outfit in September to help Derby surge up to fourth in the table with a run of eight consecutive wins, a sequence which was ended by defeat to Wigan Athletic on New Year's Day.

Liverpool's Andre Wisdom, Manchester United's Will Keane and Tottenham Hotspur's Simon Dawkins are already part of McClaren's squad, and Bamford, who signed for Chelsea in a £1.5m deal from Nottingham Forest in 2012, appears likely to join them once his MK Dons spell officially ends on January 5.