Manchester United Winger Completes Permanent Move to Leeds United for R497M
- Winger Daniel James has signed a five-year contract with Leeds United from Manchester United
- The winger joined United from Swansea in 2019 before making a total of 74 appearances
- James, the newly-promoted Premier League club's eighth summer signing, will don the number 20 jersey
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Winger Daniel James has joined Leeds United on a permanent transfer from Manchester United on transfer deadline day.
James had a medical at Leeds on Tuesday, August 31 ahead of flying out with the rest of the Wales squad for the international break.
He signs for Marcelo Bielsa’s side from Manchester United for a fee believed to be £25m, two years after he played for the side on loan from the Red Devils.
Leeds have been keeping tabs on the winger since his Swansea days, and they were on the verge of signing him in 2019, but the deal collapsed at the last minute and James went on to join Manchester United instead.
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In his first interview as a Leeds United player, James expressed delight to Sky Sports at joining the Elland Road club, saying:
"For me and my football career this is completely the right decision.”
"I had an unbelievable time [at Manchester United]. I made great friends, the staff and fans were amazing to me. It is my time to move on career-wise. I am just looking forward to it,” he went on.
The Wales winger featured in two of Manchester United’s opening three league games, including the hard-fought 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, August 29.
In total, he made 74 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring seven goals.
Ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, James was facing an uncertain future, especially because of the influx of players in attacking positions in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team.
He becomes Leeds’s eighth signing of the summer transfer window and will wear the number 20 shirt.
Cavani likely to inherit Daniel James's jersey
In other news, Briefly News previously reported that at United, there is likely to be a swap of football numbers following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Premier League website currently lists both Cavani and Cristiano as Manchester United’s number 7’s but the Uruguayan is now likely to inherit James’s number 21 number , leaving the famous number 7 to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Tshepiso Mametela (Head of Current Affairs Desk) Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is the current affairs Head of Desk at Briefly News. He was a news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. Email: tshepiso.mametela@briefly.co.za