Bamford 'not part of my plans' - Leeds boss Farke

Leeds manager Daniel Farke has told striker Patrick Bamford he is "not part" of his plans this season and will have to train with the under-21 squad if he remains at the club.

The 31-year-old was a surprising omission from the squad for Saturday's 0-0 pre-season draw with Manchester United in Stockholm.

Bamford's absence sparked fears he had suffered another setback after his injury struggles for the Premier League newcomers.

However, Farke said he was now ready to call time on the former England frontman's seven-year spell at Elland Road.

"I had a really open and honest conversation with Patrick, which was important," he added. "He knows how much I rate him as a player and I would have preferred a fit Patrick Bamford for the last two seasons.

"But he is a player who needs to be the main man. He needs an arm round the shoulder after some difficult seasons. I was not willing to tell him he was the main man at Premier League level.

"In the second day of pre-season, I got him into my office and told him he is not in my plans for the upcoming season.

"It would have been easy for me to hide behind the sporting director or wait until we got someone else in, but he has done so much for this club, he deserves respect and transparency."

Bamford has made 205 appearances for Leeds, scoring 60 goals, since joining the club from Middlesbrough for £7m in 2018.

He has been involved in two promotion-winning campaigns and excelled on the club's first stint back in the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020, when he scored 17 goals.

Farke confirmed Bamford would not be involved in Leeds' pre-season camp in Germany next week and would be excluded from first-team training when his side return at the end of July.

"I will treat this situation as respectfully as possible, but there comes a moment when you can't carry on with five or six strikers," added the German boss.

"Right now, we are talking about what we do to retain his fitness levels.

"The under-21s are going to Munich for a friendly but when they come back, he will probably join many sessions with them.

"He needs team training to stay fit. It would make no sense just to let him run around the lake [at the training ground]."