Wolves face transfer battle for Chelsea's Patrick Bamford

Bamford is on Kenny Jackett's radar along with Leicester's Chris Wood as the head coach looks to strengthen his strikeforce before the transfer window shuts at the end of next month.

But 20-year-old Bamford, who is currently on Chelsea's pre-season Austrian training camp, is being eyed by at least three other potential suitors.

Championship play-off finalists Derby, where the former Nottingham Forest academy scholar spent the second half of last season, are believed to be one of the clubs interested in loaning him. It's understood Chelsea want Bamford to at least play at Championship level.

A lower-ranked Premier League team is seen as his ideal placement after spending six months in League One with Milton Keynes Dons and a similar spell in the Championship with the Rams. Burnley and QPR are also in the frame.

But Wolves, with momentum and designs on fashioning another promotion push, will be seen as serious contenders if a suitable top-flight club can't be found for the left-footed forward.

Meanwhile, new signing Tommy Rowe won't return to contention until the second week of the new season as he battles back from a broken fifth metatarsal.

Head coach Jackett said: "His recovery will take a month and we're nine or 10 days into that which leaves him bang on the start of the season. We're pretty confident that it will have cleared up by then. After that we'll see how much training he needs or whether he needs a game.

"But by the looks of it, he won't miss too much of the season – it looks like he'll do some type of training the week after the Norwich game. He's pretty much symptom-free now, but they'll leave it the full four weeks, the run-up to the Norwich game."