Leeds United hardly strolled to a 2-1 victory against a struggling Rotherham side yesterday, at least not in the opening 45 minutes.
In the opening half, an admittedly poor Leeds United side were made to look quite impotent by a Millers side fighting their own battles at the opposite end of the table. The South Yorkshire side were solid and determined, forcing Leeds to look remarkably poor.
Then, it all changed in the second half as a positional change allowed a Pablo Hernandez-influenced Whites side put Rotherham to the sword more. Leeds were more direct, and definitely more incisive – the sort of play that you’d expect of table-toppers.
It’s a style of play that Whites fans have been arguing needs a few faces to freshen things up some. One has been brought to Elland Road in terms of Kiko Casilla, but fans are wanting an outfield player to add zip and pizazz to their forward play.
Many names, such as Ivan Cavaleiro and Callum O’Dowda have been put forward, but Leeds seem settled on Swansea winger Daniel James. The Whites were hopeful of a deal, with reports in some quarters saying the Whites were actually in talks with the South Wales side.
However, news emerged today that Swansea had slapped a £12m valuation on their flying left-sided attacker. Now, £12m in anyone’s reckoning is substantial, and it is certainly eye-watering considering his relative lack of experience.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay says that Leeds are “refusing to give up” on attempts to land James, who he reiterates “has been the subject of high-level talks” between the two Championship clubs.
Swansea’s valuation of £12m is more a taxi ride than a postcode away from Leeds’ valuation of £3m; it appears likely that some compromise needs to be met should the West Yorkshire side wish to pursue the Swansea winger’s capture.
Phil Hay comments on the Daniel James chase
Swansea are trying to drive a high price but these things always involve brinkmanship. Leeds haven’t given up on him.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 27, 2019
they value him higher than Leeds do, put it that way. But deals can include add-ons etc so an initial fee would be much lower than that.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 27, 2019
Leeds chasing James – but is £12m too high a price to contemplate
One thing for certain, like Phil Hay says above, there’s no way Leeds United will be forking out a £12m lump sum for Daniel James. Come to think of it, nor should they.
He’s a good a player, there’s little doubt about that. But £12m, I’m not buying that and neither should Leeds. You can dress it up in whatever fancy semantics that you like, but the bottom line is a very basic one – Daniel James is NOT worth £12m of anyone’s money.
In all honesty, it looks a case of ‘Leeds are interested, Leeds are top of the table, hike up the price.’ It is as simple as that. You can dress it up as ‘brinksmanship’ all you like, but it’s a more base move than that. It’s a price hike that cannot be really justified, not for what it is Leeds United would be getting.
English footballers, especially young ones, tend to be overpriced in a market that looks at their transfer fees like Robert Mugabe used to look at Zimbabwean inflation. In a word, sky-high.
There’s much more value to be had in the transfer market, even at this late stage. It might take a bit more effort, but it’ll save a lot more money. Let Swansea play hard-ball, leave them with a player on their wage bill that they could have moved on.
