“He should be playing in the Premier League, he has to decide what is best for him”- Wales Manager Rob Page suggests Leeds winger Dan James is too good for Championship & should push for exit this summer
Wales manager Rob Page has said that Daniel James is too good to play for Leeds United in the Championship.
Rob Page has told BBC Sport that Leeds United and Wales international winger Daniel James is good enough to play in the Premier League.
Leeds will play in the Championship next season after getting relegated from the Premier League.
The 25-year-old Wales international winger spent the 2022-23 season on loan at Fulham from the West Yorkshire club. James made five starts and 15 substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Cottagers this past campaign.
The winger scored two goals and gave one assist in those games.
Page said about James: “I do think DJ (James) is a Premier League player. If I’m a Premier League manager and I find out he’s available, personally I’d take him because he should be playing in the Premier League.”
“I’m bound to say that because I’m his Welsh manager, but for me he always poses a threat.
“He still has things to work on, but with the pace he’s got it is a brave team that plays a high line against him. I think he could easily play in the Premier League again. Right now he has to decide what is best for him”.
Page added: “He has taken one for the team in recent months because I’ve asked him to play a different role. He likes playing wide left and the way we play now suits us because he gives us the width on the left.
“He’s that option in behind and when you’ve got a tool like that in your armoury it really is effective. In the Premier League, and at international level, he poses a threat. It was a frustrating few months for him when I played him at centre-forward with Gareth (Bale). Now we’ve changed and he is back out in his natural position.”
In our view, if Daniel James gets the chance to leave Leeds United for a club in the Premier League, then he should take it. The 25-year-old is used to playing in the Premier League with Manchester United, Leeds and Fulham.
So, it would be a step down for the winger if he is to go back to the Championship. The former Swansea City winger has shown that he can hold his own in the top flight of English football.
James has scored 12 goals and created 16 big chances in 106 appearances in the Premier League so far in his career. Now, of course, no one is saying that James is world class or is good enough to start for the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
However, there is no doubt that James would be a good player to have for any club in the middle or lower end of the table in the Premier League.
