MX23RW : Thursday, April 25 17:24:44| >> :600:102398:102398:

Wales winger Daniel James ignoring Leeds United speculation

The 21-year-old Swansea winger almost joined Championship rivals Leeds in January.

Wales hero Daniel James has vowed to focus on his football and not be distracted as Premier League clubs monitor his contract situation at Swansea.

James scored a superb winner as Wales opened their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Slovakia in Cardiff on Sunday.

The 21-year-old winger was on the verge of joining Leeds during the final hours of the January transfer window before Swansea pulled the plug on a potential Β£10million deal.

James is contracted at the cash-strapped Sky Bet Championship club until the summer of 2020, with talks over a new deal ongoing amid reports that the player's camp are keen to have a buy-out clause inserted.

"That's still underway," James said when asked about Swansea contract talks.

"It's about concentrating on the football for me.

James says he is learning from Gareth Bale
James says he is learning from Gareth Bale (Darren Staples/PA)

"This time last season I wasn't playing first-team football, but it's something that can happen.

"If you get your opportunity you can take it and now it's a case of 'can I do more?'"

Leeds were expected to come back in for James this summer, but they will almost certainly face competition from top-flight clubs following James' international breakthrough.

Swansea's finances remain precarious following relegation from the Premier League in May 2018 and a budget deficit of more than Β£30million.

James' Swansea future remains uncertain
James' Swansea future remains uncertain (Nick Potts/PA)

It was announced last week that the club are seeking redundancies among all staff other than players and manager Graham Potter.

Swansea have seen 16 senior players depart since relegation and only five arrive, but James has remained upbeat since his Leeds move collapsed amid some acrimony between the two clubs.

"I got back to Swansea and the fans have been great with me," he said.

"Nothing has changed for me.

"It was about keep playing football and enjoying it, and that's what I've been doing."

James was born in the Yorkshire market town of Beverley but qualifies for Wales through his Aberdare-born father.

He was at the Hull academy from the age of eight, but he joined Swansea in 2014 and scored on his senior debut in an 8-1 FA Cup victory over Notts County in February 2018.

James has become a Swansea regular this season and made his Wales debut in a low-key friendly away to Albania in November.

He rose to prominence with an incredible solo FA Cup goal against Brentford in February, when he covered 84 yards in just 8.48 seconds before scoring, and was then on target five minutes in to his first competitive start for Wales.

"It's massive the way the gaffer has trusted the youth," James said of Wales manager Ryan Giggs.

"A lot of us have played together at the Under-21s and I think that really helps, we've got a great team bond.

"The gaffer and Gareth (Bale) have shown me a lot. The gaffer told me for the Slovakia game to keep doing what I do at Swansea and Gareth said 'keep getting at the full-back', which is what I did."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Phil Blanche, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'c468f2a6-a134-421b-91b0-145da6de86ca');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Wales winger James not distracted by speculation over his club future'});

ID:354392: cacheID:354392:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:10979:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Ollie McBurnie celebrates scoring for Swansea City on January 29, 2019
Read Next:
McBurnie confident of Scotland starting spot
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Blanch
Nadal
Result
Cachin
Ofner
6 6
3 3
Result
Elahi Galan
Bautista-Agut
64 6 1
77 4 6
Result
Gasquet
Sonego
2 5
6 7
Result
Hanfmann
Mensik
4 63
6 77
10am
Koepfer
Carballes Baena
10am
Kovacevic
Medjedovic
Result
Lajovic
Monteiro
4 3
6 6
Result
Machac
Ruusuvuori
6 1 6
4 6 2
10am
Michelsen
Fonseca
Result
Nishioka
Auger-Aliassime
6 1 4
4 6 6
Result
O'Connell
Arnaldi
4 1
6 6
Result
Purcell
Giron
4 6 77
6 4 62
10am
Ramos-Vinolas
Kotov
Result
Tabilo
Cobolli
7 4 4
5 6 6
Result
Zhizhen
Kecmanovic
3 2
6 6
Result
Azarenka
Maria
6 6
3 1
10am
Eala
Cirstea
10am
Annie Fernandez
Potapova
Result
Gauff
Rus
6 6
0 0
Result
Keys
Camelia-Begu
77 78
63 66
Result
Podoroska
Navarro
2 1
6 6
10am
Karolina Schmiedlova
Jabeur
10am
Swiatek
Wang
10am
Baez
Van Assche
10am
Coric
Zverev
10am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
10am
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
10am
Hurkacz
Draper
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Alexandrova
Krueger
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
10am
Boulter
Montgomery
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Collins
Danilovic
3pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
10am
Dolehide
Kalinina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Linette
Sabalenka
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
Result
Sorribes Tormo
Svitolina
6 7
3 5
Result
Vekic
Sakkari
3 2
6 6
Result
Arango
Yastremska
6 5 4
0 7 6
Result
Osaka
Samsonova
2 6 5
6 4 7
Result
Ostapenko
Bouzas Maneiro
6 6
3 1
Result
Haddad Maia
Errani
6 6
3 2
2.30pm
Lourdes Carle
Kudermetova
2.30pm
Mertens
Stephens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester443041086394794
2Leeds UnitedLeeds44279880374390
3Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
4Southampton442591085612484
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich442191477611672
7Hull City441912136556969
8Coventry CityCoventry4317121468551363
9Middlesbrough44189176460463
10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Cardiff CityCardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea CitySwansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke CityStoke441311204460-1650
18Queens Park RangersQPR441311204157-1650
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn441310215874-1649
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth441212205869-1148
21Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds44138233968-2947
22Birmingham CityBirmingham441210224864-1646
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield44917184774-2744
RRotherham UnitedRotherham44412283285-5324


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!