James reveals ‘weird’ collapse of deadline day switch to Leeds
DANIEL James has lifted the lid on his ‘crazy’ failed transfer to Leeds in January 2019, which paved the way for him to join United.
A Swansea City player at the time, the winger had agreed to move to Elland Road midway through the 2018/19 campaign, even travelling up to Yorkshire on January deadline day to sign a contract.
But the move collapsed at the 11th hour as Swans chairman Huw Jenkins pulled the plug as the clubs failed to agree terms.
James was forced to head back to Swansea – though ended up signing for United the following summer.
“It was a weird one,” said James. “Because I didn’t even play a game for Shrewsbury [on loan the previous season] and then I only played that FA Cup game [for Swansea] when I scored, which was a massive confidence-booster.
“Having played a few months for Swansea, I spoke to my agent about the fact that Leeds wanted me. They were obviously a massive club, top of the Championship table at the time.
“I’d only just started at Swansea and I was loving it, but I had a year and a half left on my contract and at the time Swansea weren’t offering me a new contract.
“In football you’ve got to be secure. The manager didn’t want me to leave and was hopeful the club would offer me a new contract.”
The Leeds move appealed to James as they were offering a better deal, were competing for promotion, while the Wales international’s family are based in Yorkshire, too.
James added: “I couldn’t really believe it. It took a while to get done and then I went there on deadline day.
“Leeds being close to Hull, where my family is from, was a big factor. But I’d been at Swansea since I was 16 to 21, and those years are massive.
“At the time it was the right decision. Leeds were offering me four years. The Amazon Prime documentary shows what happened: I got there in the morning, my agent said things could go to the wire, I did all the scans and medical stuff.
“I got to Elland Road about 6pm, did all the pictures with my shirt, all the interviews – because they wanted it to go out in the morning – and then it was strange.
“It got to about 9pm and I’d signed all the papers and then it was from club-to-club. I had people texting me saying ‘what’s happening?’ and I literally didn’t know. It wasn’t until 15 minutes to go until I thought: ‘this might not happen now’.
“I ended up ringing the chairman [of Swansea] to ask him what’s happening. It was all a bit crazy and then it wasn’t done – I threw my phone. I thought it’s not real.
“The chief exec of Leeds wasn’t happy, but then it was just a case of driving home. It was a very weird situation and I think it helped me in some ways.”
James returned to Swansea and continued to shine in the Premier League, prompting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to launch a bid to sign him in the summer.
The rest is history.