Gary Lineker has only been rang by one England footballer for advice as details of private call revealed

Only one England striker has decided to ring Three Lions legend Gary Lineker and ask for advice about scoring goals.

Lineker scored 48 goals in 80 appearances for his country and is the only player to be the First Division's top scorer with three different clubs.

Saying he knew where the back of the net was during his time at Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur would be an understatement.

Since retiring after a spell in Japan with Nagoya Grampus, Lineker has thrown himself into his media career.

Most modern football fans will know him best for presenting BBC's hit highlights show Match of the Day.

Lineker has a lot to offer the modern game. Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford knows that better than anyone.

Bamford helped Leeds earn promotion back to the Premier League in 2020 and scored 17 goals to help Marcelo Bielsa's side to a respectable ninth-place finish. The 30-year-old even received his first England call-up and earned his only cap in a 4-0 win against Andorra in September 2021.

Since then, Bamford has struggled with injuries and seen his former tail off.

Leeds were relegated back to the Championship last season, but in a bid to keep them up, Bamford gave Lineker a call.

Rest Is Football/YouTube)

He told the My Mate's A Footballer podcast: “Last season I rang him [Lineker]. I got his number after messaging him on Twitter and just was like, ‘Can I give you a call to talk about striking stuff?'

"He said I was the first guy who had ever rang him to ask about striking advice and to pick my brain. I was like, 'You are kidding me'. I was surprised that nobody had done it."

Bamford scored his second goal of the season in Leeds' 3-0 win over Peterborough United in the FA Cup third round last weekend.

He brought down a long ball with his chest before volleying home with a thunderous left-footed strike. It'll likely go down as the goal of the season and might be an early contender for the Puskas Award.

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"As a striker, you always know where the goal is, wherever you are on the pitch," Bamford explained.

"As soon as the ball came over, I wasn't thinking I was going to chest it down and smack it, but as the ball came down it was in a perfect position and as soon as it hit my chest and was there, I was hitting it.

"In a split second, you make that decision. You know when you connect with the ball, you just know straight away because it's such a good connection, that's going in."

Topics: Gary Lineker, England, Leeds United, Patrick Bamford

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_