Cristiano Ronaldo's return and Jadon Sancho’s signing is set to push James down the pecking order at Old Trafford, thereby making him join another Premier League club.
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Premier League side Leeds United have completed the signing of Daniel James on a permanent deal from Manchester United. The Welsh winger, who will wear the No 20 shirt, moves to Leeds on a five-year deal. James underwent a medical on Tuesday ahead of flying out to Finland with the rest of his national squad for international duty. “The winger was close to joining Leeds during the 2018/19 Championship season and has continued to impress through his hard-working nature and lightning pace. The Whites have now secured the Wales international on a five-year contract, which will run until the summer of 2026, for an undisclosed fee,” a club statement read.
Having played for Wales at various youth levels, James made his senior international debut in November 2018. He has made 24 appearances to date and was part of the squad that competed at the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship. The 23-year-old made his professional debut for Swansea City back in February 2018, before signing for Manchester United in the summer of 2019. He quickly excited fans with three goals during his first four appearances at the club, scoring on his Premier League debut and picking up the club’s Player of the Month award during his very first month with the team. He went on to make 74 appearances in all competitions, scoring a total of nine goals, according to the statement.
“James becomes Leeds’ eighth signing of the summer transfer window and will join Marcelo and the team following the international break, ahead of our home clash against Liverpool where he will be met by a sold-out crowd at Elland Road. He has chosen to wear the number 20 shirt during his time with the club,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Victor Orta, Director of Football at Leeds United, said, “‘I have to say a huge thank you to my team firstly – the football department have been monitoring Daniel for a number of years and every member of my team has worked hard to get this deal over the line. It is no secret that Daniel is a player we have been keen to acquire for a number of years and today we achieved our goal.”
“As a player we feel Daniel is an excellent fit for a Marcelo Bielsa team, he is quick, direct and works hard – we look forward to him joining up with the squad, finally!”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return and Jadon Sancho’s signing is set to push James down the pecking order at Old Trafford. Thereby joining another Premier League club makes total sense for the winger. Later, Daniel James told Sky Sports News, “It feels great to be here, just glad everything is over the line now and just excited to move forward.”
“It has been a bit of a whirlwind for me, bit of a crazy time [the last 24 hours]. But as I said, I’m grateful for the club still being interested in me and still believing in me from that time [when they nearly signed me] two-and-a-half years ago.
“I’m happy to be here now, and I can’t wait to play in front of these fans. I think there has always been interest in me from Leeds since I nearly signed from Swansea.
“I think as you said, there wasn’t much going on [this window], it kind of happened in the last day or two. It happened very quick, but I’ve got my head around it and this is where I want to be moving forward.”
