Crystal Palace announced on Tuesday that Patrick Bamford joined the club on a one-year loan deal from London neighbours Chelsea, but can he be success? Greg Waller asesses the talented youngster. 
The talented England Under 21 international spent last season on loan at Middlesbrough and was the star attraction, scoring 19 goals that took them to the play-off final, missing out on promotion to Norwich City. He capped a fine season by being voted as the Championship Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of the likes of Phil Jagielka, Kevin Phillips, Rickie Lambert and Danny Ings; not bad for a 21-year-old.
It was logical, then, that Bamford should want to test himself at the highest level of English football next, having already passed tests in League One and the Championship with flying colours. With his parent club being less than 10 miles from his new home, Palace and Bamford are a perfect fit. It is no secret that Palace need more goals, Bamford will be desperate to provide them, and Chelsea can keep a close eye on his development.
Bamford’s arrival takes the tally of first team strikers at the club to four, alongside Glenn Murray, Dwight Gayle and Fraizer Campbell – though all three of them have, at some point this summer, been linked with moves to the likes of Norwich City, Bournemouth, and Queens Park Rangers. With Palace also being linked with moves for the likes of Charlie Austin and Loic Remy this summer, it’s not unreasonable to expect that at up any of the aforementioned forwards could be on the move to make way for an established, quality striker.
Certainly, Bamford will feel he has a real opportunity to establish himself as first choice, as he did at MK Dons, Derby County and Middlesbrough, and it’s the player he’s most similar to, Glenn Murray, who may be most concerned about losing his place. Both Bamford and Murray base their play on an excellent reading of players around them, excellent positioning and, of course, quality finishing. Bamford, however, is more likely to be able to carry the ball from the wings, whilst Murray provides more of a physical and aerial threat. In an ideal world, most Palace fans would love to see Bamford playing alongside, and learning from, Murray as opposed to replacing him.
He’s already told the club’s official site that Palace "were actually [his] first choice, but [he] didn’t realise they were keen to start with." Whether this is rhetoric or not, it’s great to see a new signing demonstrate what an attractive proposition Palace are now – and Bamford did turn down the chance to study at Harvard, so he clearly knows what he’s talking about.
Though some may criticise Premier League clubs loaning players to each other, this hopefully goes to show the determination and desire Bamford will show at the club for this season at least. What with him already being a part of Gareth Southgate’s England Under 21s, he will perhaps look at the inclusion of Charlie Austin and Jamie Vardy in Roy Hodgson’s most recent England squad and set his sights high. With the positivity surrounding the club and the progress being made on the pitch – why not?
Welcome to Crystal Palace, Patrick. Here’s to the next, successful stage in your, and the club’s, future.