Dan James: Do Leeds still want him? Do they still need him?

The tip-off about Dan James came from a contact with connections to the boardroom at Burnley. Manchester United were selling the winger and it was Burnley who picked up the trail first, speculatively keen on bringing him in.

Leeds United’s interest in James went far beyond speculatively keen and when they heard he was on the market, they mobilised quickly. Analysis of him was unnecessary. Marcelo Bielsa had been keeping tabs on him for two years. Leeds knew without asking that Bielsa would encourage them to get involved and construct a bid. If the money could be found, nothing was impeding the transfer.

Bielsa got his man and James got a move that had slipped through his fingers once before, in peculiar circumstances in 2019. A fresh start felt like a good idea after a couple of difficult years. Manchester United was volatile territory and James, to an excessive degree, had become a target for frustration over the club’s lack of direction, a way of criticising the Glazers and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer by proxy. He lost his father a short time before leaving Swansea City for Old Trafford and, for a variety of reasons, a change of scene appealed.

Leeds met Manchester United’s valuation of £25million ($29.1m) and pen was put to paper at the very end of last year’s summer window, 12 months ago yesterday. It is an indication of James’ time at Leeds that the final fortnight of this summer window has been marked by chatter about where he would be after the deadline passes and whether another transfer is in the offing. Tottenham were linked last week and after them Everton, Tuesday’s visitors to Elland Road. Even tentative approaches at this stage of August were enough to indicate clubs out there saw James as someone who Leeds might be ready to talk about and trade.

Leeds, as recently as a few days ago, were saying differently and the message from the club before Rodrigo injured himself on Tuesday was that the deadline would pass with James in their squad. But yesterday, with the clock ticking, the idea of him moving on was not off the table. Sources close to James said he was prepared for the possibility that a medical elsewhere might be necessary today, no longer sure about what would happen.

When stories about Spurs first arose, he is understood to have told Leeds that he wanted to stay. And while wingers are in ample supply at Elland Road, there has been caution about inviting a situation where too much expectation was placed on Crysencio Summerville, a prospect without a Premier League start to his name. But in Jesse Marsch’s pecking order, James’ position is unclear or far from bulletproof. He was back on the bench against Everton in midweek, edged out of the frame by Luis Sinisterra. And the turn of Leeds’ attention to PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo in the past 48 hours threatened the influx of more competition.

James believed he could hold down a place in Marsch’s line-up long term but the £20million signing of Sinisterra, who is already showing the twinkles of imagination a club look for in a new recruit, was always a challenge to others in the same position. Sinisterra can almost provide the best of both worlds in Marsch’s system: the discipline to follow the plan in an inverted attacking line of three but a brain that will naturally look for opportunities closer to the touchlines, subconsciously giving width to a side who are not flush with it. At Feyenoord, they regarded him as someone who oozed goals and assists, and Leeds can probably bank on plenty.

It was all there on Tuesday: twists and turns in midfield, tricks in tight spaces, wise positioning when Leeds attacked and a lovely finish for their equaliser in a 1-1 draw, swept in with disguise and little shades of Raphinha. He fits into the system but he can operate off the cuff and, it seems, marry the two without compromising his impact or his responsibilities. The mark of a good signing is one whose earliest appearances leave people craving more; “a special player” is how Marsch described him. 

Turning James into that sort of weapon has been difficult, though not solely because of him. His influence has meandered like his role in the team and there is probably nobody in the squad at Leeds who has been asked so often to fulfil a role they do not know and do not particularly want.

There are ways in which a player like James could work up front, the false nine using pace to burn in behind central defenders, but it is not a job anyone learns overnight, and both Bielsa and Marsch were honest enough to say that in asking him to have a go, he was stepping out of his comfort zone. His output was up and down last season — four goals, four assists, 50 shots on goal, 25 chances created over 32 games — but none of it helped him find a niche, up front, out wide, wherever he was. Final balls and killer moments were inconsistent. Games were rarely turned by him.

What lies in store, then, for the footballer Bielsa wanted above most others? A healthy supply of wingers or not, Marsch needs fall-backs and cover, even if the window brings a new forward at the last. One too many seems preferable to one too few. But where Jack Harrison was concerned, Leeds were categorical in shutting the door on Newcastle’s interest in him. With James, Marsch was not so definitive, carefully leaving the door ajar.

“I don’t anticipate big movements within the group but we have to see what happens in the next 24 hours,” Marsch said on Tuesday, and the game against Everton might have only consolidated Sinisterra, Harrison and Brenden Aaronson as the preferred unit behind whoever Leeds field up front. Gakpo, who Leeds were fishing for last night, poses another question if Leeds actually get that deal done.

Bielsa saw immense potential in James, so much that very few transfers appealed to the Argentinian more. It has not been in the winger’s gift to vindicate the depth of that fixation — and it remains to be seen what the final hours of the window mean for him.

(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images)