Patrick Bamford’s recall has nothing to do with Diego Costa

In what may be a recurring feature over the next few weeks, we will take a look at Chelsea FC goings-on that have nothing to do with Diego Costa. First up: Patrick Bamford’s recall from his loan at Burnley.

For the second time in his nominal career at Chelsea, Patrick Bamford is returning from a loan midway through a season. Chelsea announced Bamford’s recall from Burnley on Twitter yesterday.

Patrick Bamford is a striker, just like Diego Costa. Because the club is in the middle of a poorly understood but thoroughly hyped situation with Diego Costa, the recall is being cast as an outgrowth of Costa’s tete-a-tete with Antonio Conte. No doubt, in the minds of people who concoct such causation, Chelsea’s recent recall of Nathan Ake shows that Conte will favor a loan recall over a transfer to fill immediate squad needs.

Bamford has played zero minutes for Chelsea’s first team, which is even fewer than Michy Batshuayi. Chelsea signed Bamford in 2012, and has sent him on six loans. Loan club #3 was his most successful by far. At Middlesbrough in 2014/15, Bamford scored 17 goals in 40 Championship appearances. He earned the Championship’s Player of the Season award as Boro fell just short of promotion.

Must Read: Diego Costa rumours go to great lengths to create baseless drama

Patrick Bamford started 2015/16 on loan to Crystal Palace. After amassing only 119 minutes in six substitute appearances over the first half of the season, Chelsea recalled him. They re-loaned him to Norwich City. There he played 236 minutes in seven appearances.

At Burnley for the first half of 2016/17, Bamford made only six appearances for 34 minutes. Given that Chelsea recalled him last year when he played three times as much, there should be little surprise and even less need for confabulating an explanation for his recall.

Contrary to what you may read elsewhere, Patrick Bamford offers Chelsea exactly nothing as a back-up option in Diego Costa’s absence. No matter how little Conte trusts Michy Batshuayi or how resolute Chelsea are in holding the line against Dominic Solanke’s contractual impudence, Patrick Bamford is not leap-frogging either of them in the depth chart.

The most likely destination for Patrick Bamford is a return to Middlesbrough. Boro manager Aitor Karanka rates Bamford highly and the club would warmly welcome Bamford back. He would almost certainly garner significant playing time, giving Chelsea the opportunity to evaluate his Premier League abilities.

Next: Marcos Alonso leads Chelsea player ratings in win over Leicester City

The only thing worse than the original Diego Costa rumour are all the downstream rumours it spawned. This transfer window cannot close soon enough.