In recent comments made in a discussion on The Athletic, Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay spoke about the club’s link with Manchester United winger Daniel James.
Leeds’ fondness of James has been well reported over the summer transfer window, with the club said to have ‘concrete interest’ in the player who very nearly joined Marcelo Bielsa’s side in January of 2019, before the deal fell through at the last moment, with the winger subsequently joining Manchester United the following summer.
However, so far this season, the £17.1 million-rated 22-year-old has featured just once for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, in their 3-1 loss against Crystal Palace, and, after being left out of the squad completely for the club’s 3-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, one Leeds fan asked Hay whether the Welshman’s absence was an indication that he could be on his way to Elland Road.
In response, Hay stated: ‘It’s not a secret that Leeds are keen. There was no mention of his fitness yesterday but, clearly, he didn’t make the 18 [man squad] and our understanding is that he’d be open to a move to Leeds. He’s had a hard time at Old Trafford and it’s hard to say where exactly he fits under Solskjaer. One to watch.’ (Live blog, 09:38, 27/09/20).
TIF Thoughts…
Despite Hay stating that James would be ‘open to a move to Leeds’, a recent report by Sky Sports has claimed that the winger has informed his manager that he would like to stay at Manchester United to ‘fight for his place’ in the side.
In addition to this, Dharmesh Sheth recently stated on Sky’s The Transfer Show that, because James is ‘the first-choice back-up to Mason Greenwood on the right side’, United would not be willing to let the winger leave unless ‘they brought in [Jadon] Sancho or a replacement’.
As such, it would seem that Leeds’ move for James is quite complicated at present, and, with only a little over a week remaining in the summer transfer window, the club is running out of time if they are to get a deal done for the winger.