OPINION
The Leeds United fanbase are on tenterhooks as the club try to wrap up the late-window signing of Swansea City attacker Daniel James.
Graham Potter laid the foundations for the 21-year-old to quit the Liberty Stadium by 31 January on Monday be saying talks over a deal with United underway and he could transfer by Thursday night’s deadline.
In an update on his personal Twitter account, ultra-reliable Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Phil Hay reported in an exchange with a Leeds fans on Tuesday morning that Leeds “want a deal in place today”.
He added the Championship leaders are “prepared for the possibility that it goes close to the wire”.
Leeds want a deal in place today but they’re prepared for the possibility that it goes close to the wire.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) January 29, 2019
This is brilliant news for Leeds fans worried about missing out on an exciting young winger who can add a real cutting edge to their attack for the second half of the campaign.
They will be bouncing at the prospect of James’ blistering pace augmenting the inventiveness of Pablo Hernandez, the energy of Ezgjan Alioski and the youthful brio of Jack Clarke and Jack Harrison.
Hay would not be so optimistic about the possibility of the deal being done on Tuesday unless that was the information he had been fed by his contacts at the club.
United have made no attempts to distance themselves from this deal over the last week or so, and it is instructive that Swansea have gone public with the possibility it could soon happen.
There should soon be some white smoke puffing out of Elland Road.