Manchester United have completed the signing of Swansea City winger, Daniel James for £15million on a five-year deal. He marks the first signing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United manager.
James scored five goals and made ten assists in 38 appearances in all competitions in 2018/19. He is known for his blistering pace, trickery, and willingness to run at defenders.
Although the 21-year-old was born in Beverly, Yorkshire, he decided to play for Wales — the country of his father’s birth. He has been capped three times at international level, scoring once — in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Slovakia.
Swansea signed James from Hull City for a nominal compensation fee of £72,000 in 2014 when he was 16 years old. He rose through the ranks at Swansea and was included in the squad by the then manager, Alan Curtis, for an FA Cup clash against Oxford in January 2016 when he was just 18 years old, although he did not appear in that game, his progress was sufficient enough to convince the club to hand him a three-year contract the following week.
In June 2017, he was loaned out to league one side, Shrewsbury Town, to gain first team experience but was recalled after just a month to continue his development at Swansea having failed to make a single appearance at Shrewsbury Town.
He made his first-team debut in an FA Cup match against Notts County, scoring a goal in the 8-1 victory.
When Swansea got relegated from the Premier League in the summer of 2018, manager, Graham Potter, decided to offset the multiple departures in the team by promoting youngsters, and it proved to be a success as players like James made a breakthrough.
James made his league debut on the 17th of August 2018 in a 0-0 draw against Birmingham City in EFL Championship. He scored his first league goal on the 24th of November 2018 in a 4-1 defeat to Norwich City.
On the 31st of January 2019, James expressed his desire to leave Swansea to join Leeds United, and a £10m fee was agreed between both clubs with James also agreeing on personal terms and completing a medical at Elland Road. However, the move collapsed due to a disagreement between Swansea owners and chairman over the structure of the deal an hour before the transfer deadline.
James hit the headlines after an FA Cup match against Brentford in February 2019 when he scored a sensational goal by running the entire length of the pitch at a speed that was clocked at 36kmph — a little just short of the 37kmph world record set by Arjen Robben in 2014.
Manchester United announced the signing of James on the 6th of June 2019 after completing his medical a day earlier.
He is being compared with his national team manager and United legend, Ryan Giggs.
