Coventry City missed a trick - Sheffield United are the ones laughing | OneFootball

Doug King had second thoughts on signing Patrick Bamford, and the 32-year-old has been excelling at Sheffield United since

Patrick Bamford was always going to land at a top-level Championship club after he left Leeds United in the summer, and it was very nearly Coventry City he went to.

The 32-year-old endured a difficult end to his seven-year stint at Leeds, being phased out of the side throughout the 2024/25 campaign by Daniel Farke, starting no Championship games and scoring no goals, either.

When he did finally leave the club via mutual consent in late August, he took a little while to sign a new deal elsewhere, but he was training with Coventry a couple months after his departure from the current Championship champions.

Having spent time at Chelsea together, Coventry boss Frank Lampard was initially doing Bamford a favour to help him regain his fitness, but there was some speculation that the Sky Blues would pull the trigger on a contract, speculation that Bamford himself confirmed.

Indeed, the frontman said that "everything was pretty much done" before the Sky Blues owner Doug King pulled the plug on the deal, feeling that Coventry didn't need another striker. With Ellis Simms starting to hit form off the back of an electric start from Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante, he was probably right at the time.

But since then, Bamford has excelled at Championship rivals Sheffield United, and the Coventry chief may be regretting his decision.

Patrick Bamford has rediscovered his goalscoring form at Sheffield United

After Bamford didn't sign a contract with Coventry, it wasn't long before Sheffield United swooped in with a short-term deal to bring the 32-year-old in for a couple months, and he's arguably been one of the best frontmen in the division since.

No striker in the Championship has a better goals, and expected goals, per 90, with Bamford netting five in just six starts since arriving at Bramall Lane.

It's been a while since the 32-year-old has shown that ruthlessness in front of goal.

Throughout his time at Leeds, and especially towards the end of the Whites' time in the Premier League and first season back in the Championship, Bamford was known to be someone who could get into great positions but couldn't finish his chances.

The one-time England international scored just four in his final Premier League campaign off of 8.5 xG, and then eight goals from 11.73 xG in the following two Championship seasons. But an underperforming xG hasn't been an issue for Bamford this year, and Sheffield United are reaping the rewards.

The Blades have been on a constant rise up the table since Chris Wilder returned after a dismal start under Ruben Selles, and the arrival of Bamford has seemingly coincided with the rise gaining a bit more pace, with seven wins in 10 since the 32-year-old's debut in the Steel City Derby in late November.

Bamford's been revitilised at Sheffield United, and he's starting to show signs of his form from five or so years ago. On a free transfer, he's looking like a steal, and Blades fans will be delighted to see that talks are "advancing" on a deal which would see him stay past the initial January 11 end date of his short-term deal.

Coventry City will be frustrated that Patrick Bamford slipped through their grasp

At the time of Bamford's arrival at Bramall Lane on November 13, Coventry were blowing away teams left, right and centre in the Championship, winning 10 of their 15 league games and scoring 40 goals in the process.

For a side averaging 2.6 goals a game, a new striker didn't seem necessary at the time, especially one who hadn't scored in well over a year.

Unfortunately, though, hindsight can be a wonderful thing, and since Bamford's arrival, no team has scored more Championship goals than Sheffield United, and no team has won more points in the second tier than the Blades either.

To compare the two sides, the Blades have won four more points, and scored eight more goals than Frank Lampard's side over that time, while playing a game fewer.

While the 32-year-old would have added to a position already filled with talent at the CBS Arena, he could have given the Sky Blues a much-needed boost as a veteran backup striker in the past couple of months, just like he has done at Bramall Lane.

Coventry will be looking for attacking reinforcement this month to rejuvenate the side after a difficult end to 2025 regardless, but Frank Lampard and co may be wondering where the Sky Blues could have been if Bamford had made the move to the league leaders, rather than Sheffield United.