Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay has said that the Man United deal for Daniel James “has legs, although not done at this stage”.
Sky Sports reported earlier that Man United were close to confirming a £15million deal to bring the Swansea winger to Old Trafford.
Leeds were on the brink of a deal for James in the January window, and the player passed his medical at Elland Road before the move fell through in the final minutes of deadline day.
Hay added that it would be “a hard one for Leeds to take after coming so close”.
He also shared that Leeds had planned to have another go at landing James if they got promoted to the Premier League.
Dan James to Old Trafford has legs, although not done at this stage. Would be a hard one for Leeds to take after coming so close in January. Club planned to have another go if they were promoted. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 10, 2019
OPINION
We’re not surprised to see bigger teams come in for Daniel James after his brilliant second-half of the season. It’s a real body blow for Leeds though, who did everything they could, aside from paying the whole fee up front, to land James in January. It looks like the lack of money will cost Leeds after Swansea decided they didn’t like the terms of the January deal. It’s not done yet so there’s still hope for Leeds fans but this will only serve to put James even more in focus as the summer window is about to open. We also can’t help but think that Leeds would probably have ended up in the top-two and won automatic promotion had they signed James in January. If the United move falls through then it looks like Leeds will have another go at signing the Wales international in the summer.