Daniel James is set to move to Leeds from Manchester United for £30m fee with the Welsh winger falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford after the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho
- Winger Dan James is set to move to Leeds United from Manchester United
- The jet-heeled wideman will make the switch to Elland Road for a £25m fee
- Leeds almost signed the 23-year-old in 2019 and could pay up to £5m in add-ons
- James joined United from Swansea for £15m that year but has had limited games
Daniel james is set to join Leeds for £30million to make way for Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford as Manchester United explore ways of giving the Portugal star his iconic No.7 shirt.
James will become the first United player to go since Ronaldo made a £19.4m return after Leeds agreed to pay £25m plus £5m in add-ons for the Wales winger having previously tried to take him on loan.
James, a £15m signing from Swansea two years ago, made the last of his 74 appearances for United at Wolves on Sunday.
Daniel James is reportedly close to making a permanent exit from Manchester United to Leeds
The return of Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and signing of Jadon Sancho (right) limits his minutes
The 23-year-old has been used sparingly by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, along with the return of Ronaldo, the £73million move for Jadon Sancho pushes him down the pecking order with three years left to run on his deal in Manchester.
Many saw how James’ loan move from Swansea to Leeds collapsed with minutes left of the transfer window 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.
James (right) is likely to fall victim to United’s bloated attack following their summer business
‘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.’
Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford has encouraged West Ham to revive their interest in Jesse Lingard, and Sportsmail understands that talks re-opened with the player’s camp on Sunday night.
The Hammers are struggling to meet United’s £25m valuation after committing a total of £55m to signing Kurt Zouma and Nikola Vlasic.
They would prefer another loan deal for Lingard – who excelled for David Moyes’s side in the second half of last season – but that wouldn’t suit United because he is in the final year of his contract and can leave for nothing next summer.
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has been an admirer of the Welsh international for many years
One solution may be for Lingard to sign a new deal at Old Trafford and then move to the London Stadium on loan.
Amad Diallo was also set to join Feyenoord on loan, but that move is off after the Ivorian winger was ruled out for six weeks with a thigh injury.
Meanwhile, United still hope Ronaldo can reclaim the No.7 shirt when his move from Juventus goes through.
Edinson Cavani has been allocated the number and made his first appearance of the season at Wolves.
However, it’s understood United will seek special dispensation from the Premier League who list both Ronaldo and Cavani as No.7 on its official website.
