Martial, Greenwood, Rashford, Cavani, Lingaard, Sancho….and then Cristiano Ronaldo. The already crowded Manchester United group got another ‘big gun’. After Ronaldo signed, it was clear that somebody had to go. As it turned out, it was Daniel James, who eventually signed for a club he was supposed to sign two and a half years ago – Leeds United. The deal is worth 3.7 billion and James signed for five years. In 2019, Manchester paid 2.2 billion for a then Championship player from Swansea. ✍️ #LUFC is delighted to 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 confirm the signing of Dan James— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 31, 2021 James nearly signed for Leeds in January 2019, six months before he completed his move to Man Utd. He even took photos in a Leeds shirt before the deal collapsed at the last minute on deadline day.“Bit of a whirlwind for me, a crazy time. I’m here now and I’m grateful for the club to believe in me and have interest in me from that time two and a half years ago. I’m happy to be here now. I can’t wait to play in front of these fans. I think there’s always been interest since I nearly signed from Swansea. It’s all kind of happened the last day or two, it happened very quick. This is where I want to be moving forward. It feels brilliant. We made a couple of jokes in the boardroom, ‘Is it actually done now?’ because last time I’d signed everything and it fell through at the last minute. Today feels like deja vu. I’m delighted that everything is over the line. Go on internationals now and then looking forward to getting back and playing that first game against Liverpool” James told Sky Sports. Pep’s cold words and Fergie’s phone call: the story of Ronaldo’s transfer to UnitedThe winger has said that he has evolved as a player since he was close to joining Marcelo Bielsa’s side two and-a-half years ago. “I think for me, my football career, it was completely the right decision. Don’t get me wrong I had an unbelievable time and made great friends. For me it’s my time to move on career-wise and moving forward. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a different player and person. I’d only played half a season when I nearly signed here last time. I’ve got more games under my belt at the top level and I’d like to think I can add something else here” said James. Daniel James has become the joint-fourth record player sale in Manchester United’s history. Only Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Angel di Maria have left for more money, and only Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay, went for over 3 billion figure. Over the course of his two-year stint at Old Trafford, James featured 74 times across all competitions for Man United.
