It has been a productive journey for Patrick Bamford with Middlesbrough’s on-loan striker clearly stating his intent to Jose Mourinho in the FA Cup that he is ready to play in a Blues shirt. The 21-year-old’s goal knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup and showed he is ready to tussle with the big boys in the Premier League.

Another product of Chelsea’s academy, Bamford has played for three different clubs since 2012. His development has been steady as he consistently shows his finishing ability for each team. For Boro, Bamford has scored 11 goals from 26 appearances this season including 18 starts.

Leaving Chelsea is always a daunting task for any loanee but for Patrick Bamford the opportunity of working under coach Aitor Karanka was one he was looking forward to.

“He doesn’t miss out a thing and he is very rigorous with his approach to every single game, whether it is Manchester City or whoever else we might play,” said the striker. “Even if it was a lower-league team in the cup, it would be the same approach. It is all about winning.”

Karanka was Mourinho’s assistant during their time together at Real Madrid. Since then the Spaniard has moved to England and has lead Middlesbrough to third place in the Championship. Asked if the two managers were similar, Bamford said, “Yes, definitely. Training is very similar and the big thing is the desire to win. You could see that on Saturday – the passion, every detail is in there.”

For any academy in top-flight football the Holy Grail is to always produce players for the first team. With Bamford continuously showing his goal scoring talent, many believe he is ready to finally break into Mourinho’s first team squad.

The former Nottingham Forest junior is confident in his ability but remains humble about his development. “I’ve played against three Premier League teams now – Sunderland, Liverpool and Man City – and I have scored against all of them. I think it has shown that I can cut it at the top level, but we’ll see what happens. I’d say this season is probably too early and I’m out on loan and that is helping me, but next season you never know.”

“I’ve played against three Premier League teams now – Sunderland, Liverpool and Man City – and I have scored against all of them.” – Bamford

With Didier Drogba’s imminent retirement at the end of the season, Mourinho might recall Bamford to add to his strikeforce. The England Under-21 international meanwhile remains patient on his pursuit of becoming a Chelsea starter, maintaining he is open to stayig with Karanka.

“The prospect of staying at Boro always crosses my mind,” he says. “If we get promoted it would be a toss up between whether to go back to get experience with Chelsea and playing a bit part there or whether it will be playing week in and week out with Middlesbrough. Put it that way is an easy decision to make. But it’s not my decision really. It’s about getting to the end of the season and seeing where everyone is.”