Daniel James - The essential info
As Daniel James becomes a Manchester United player, here is everything you need to know on our new exciting new acquisition from Swansea City.
• Daniel James was born on 10 November 1997 in the Yorkshire town of Beverley.
• Although Daniel was born in England, he qualifies to play for Wales through his father who is from Aberdare in south Wales.
• Primarily a traditional left-winger, the versatile James can also play on the right flank or through the middle in attack, having performed in all those roles for Swansea last season.
• James came through the ranks at Hull City, joining the club at the age of nine and spending seven years at their academy. At the end of the 2013/14 season he made his debut for Hull’s reserves side aged 16, shortly before taking up the opportunity to move to Swansea City in August 2014.
• The youngster made an instant impact for the Swansea U18 side and later enjoyed success with the Swans’ U23s, winning the Premier League Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the PL International Cup and the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
• Having first made the senior bench for an FA Cup game in January 2016 and for a Premier League game in October of that year, he was handed his first-team debut by then-manager Carlos Carvalhal in the FA Cup against Notts County in February 2018, coming off the bench to score in an 8-1 win.
• Last season was undoubtedly the young winger’s breakthrough campaign. He made his league debut in August 2018 against Birmingham City, and quickly became an important part of new manager Graham Potter’s rebuilding plans following the Swans’ relegation from the Premier League.
• Having made an instant impact on the Championship, team-mate Oli McBurnie spoke of his talents, saying: “He’s just incredible… that’s three recent games when he’s played and taken the match by storm. There’s not a defender in this league who is capable of dealing with him when he’s on his game.”
• This didn’t escape the attention of Ryan Giggs. The Wales manager and United legend – who knows a thing or two about playing on the wing – handed James his senior international debut for Wales in November 2018 away to Albania. Daniel spoke of his pride after the friendly, saying: “I found out on Monday morning that I would be playing. I felt excited straight away but I knew I needed to stay focused. It was emotional because I’ve come right the way through the Welsh ranks. I know my mum, dad and family were watching on TV and were proud of me. My dad texted me earlier in the day saying he’d nearly been crying. It was a proud moment for me.”
• James scored a brilliant first senior international goal in only his second game for the national side – that strike from outside the box against Slovakia in March proved to be the winning goal, on the 21-year-old’s home international debut in Cardiff.
• James played 38 games for Swansea last season, scoring six goals. His stats included 28 starts in 33 Championship games, netting four league goals, but his standout moment came in the FA Cup, scoring a sensational solo goal in the fifth-round win over Brentford. Look it up on YouTube to see the winger running 80 yards up the pitch, with a host of Brentford players giving chase, before confidently slotting the ball into the back of the net.
• Swansea’s FA Cup journey ended in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 defeat to Manchester City, but the match against the eventual Cup winners saw another impressive performance from James on the left flank.
• Now, of course, a Manchester United player, James was named in Ryan Giggs' Wales squad for their two Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Croatia and Hungary, with the youngster in the starting XI for both games.
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