Phil SumblerIt looks as if Leeds United are finally going to net Dan James at some point today with Sky Sports News reporting that a fee of £25m has been agreed to take him across the Pennines to Leeds almost three years after the move failed at the last minute.
And when the deal is completed then some of the transfer fee will come the way of the Swans thanks to the sell on clauses that were in place and potentially could even be as much as £1m depending on the final nature and set up of the fee between the two clubs.
James moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2019, six months after the plug was pulled on a January move to Elland Road that angered the player as was later revealed in a Leeds United documentary.
It looked like shrewd business from the Swans at the time and now appears to be even more shrewd as they net a further payment for the player thanks to the sell on clause that has now been added to appearance money that they received for James making certain level of appearances at Old Trafford.
James’ options at Old Trafford were already becoming limited thanks to the spending of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the return of Cristiano Ronaldo meant even less opportunity and opening the door for a completion of a move to Leeds after the failed move in 2019.
Amazon Prime’s ‘Take Us Home: Leeds United‘ documentary showcased extraordinary never-before-seen footage of the botched transfer – with the deal pulled by Swansea very late on.
Speaking to his ex-Swansea team-mate Kenji Gorre on the ‘Living The Dream‘ podcast, James revealed his anger when he learned the move was off.
‘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,’ he said. ‘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.’
James though appeared to be another winner in that mad evening when six months later he moved to Old Trafford and started his career with a bang with a flurry of early goals. However, appearances since then have always been limited and a move to another club will be good for both club and country especially in a high tempo strategy that is operated by Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road.
And with additional money coming into the Swans coffers it is a welcome move for us as well and completes one of our rare strong pieces of transfer business in recent years.
