Take it you’ve all watched Season Two of ‘Take Us Home’ – thank the Heavens this one had a happy ending. It was a far better ‘ending’ than Season One. As well as the disappointment at that, there was also a teary-eye moment, building to frustration, when it came to the Dan James transfer.
It was Bielsa’s PowerPoint presentation on scouting and analysis after the SpyGate scandal that first set eagle-eyed Leeds United fans into the Whites pursuit of the Swansea speedster. On Bielsa’s desktop was a folder and it was a case of zooming in to find out who/what might be inside.
Once that was done, Leeds United fans were onto it like a hungry man on a bag of chips. The club were too. They had him at Elland Road. Intro video filmed. It was deadline day. All that was missing was a signature and papers from Swansea’s end. Enter the pantomime villain Huw Jenkins, then the Swans chairman. With Leeds United waiting in LS11, Jenkins simply refused to pick up the phone to OK the deal.
James went to Manchester United for £15.3m but he’s fallen down the pecking order over the Pennines and there is some speculation that Leeds United would be happy to bring him to Elland Road after all. It’s a view backed by the words of Phil Hay:
this is in a piece running later but the Dan James links are genuine. Leeds will be tempted to move on him if Man Utd make him available.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) September 20, 2020
Dan James played for 45 minutes in Manchester United’s opener, where they lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace. This came on the back of a 33-game 2019/20 campaign last season where he scored 3 goals and created 6 assists. The exciting football Leeds United play, Dan James would slot right in.
