In James, a potential worry has turned into a significant asset for Manchester United.
Manchester United fans are accustomed to complaining about Ed Woodward’s failure to bring on-board the manager’s preferred signings. The situation is different this year. Woodward tried to make amends by signing quality players, especially those who are acclimated to playing the rigorous Premier League schedule.
Woodward brought in a sought-after right-back, Wan-Bissaka, from Crystal Palace (Selhurst Park). Then he forked over a mammoth payout (80 million pounds) for Leicester City center-back Harry Maguire. The deal made Maquire the most expensive defender in the world.
Daniel James (photo, Lebanon News)
While those signings represent good and different news, United fans had something else to carp about.
Many are worried about the recruitment of newly signed, rookie Daniel James from Championship’s Swansea FC. They feel James is too young at this point to contribute significantly to United’s quest to become a title contender.
Yes, fans may have a point–if history is any indication. Many past ManU signees have failed (let’s just say) to make their mark…tick the right boxes…come to the party…hit their stride…live up to the hype…or insert your preferred reference. The list includes Angel Di Maria, Basten Schwanstiger, Memphis Depay, Ramadel Falcao, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, and most notably (in my opinion) Alexis Sanchez.
In James’ case, many fans are concerned that he hadn’t played enough minutes at Swansea to justify being brought up to play top-end football. But does James’ ManU performance justify that take?
So far, James has had three goals and an assist after he came on as a substitute to score in a 4-0 thrashing of Chelsea in the season opener. He also scored a goal that salvaged United’s draw with Southampton.
In my opinion, James is the only sparkling player for United at the moment. That’s not just me talking, either. As two of his teammates told The Sun recently, James “will be a big hit at United, because he is not a big charlie.”
What has been fans’ worry should now be their sigh of relief.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTzjGQEwXQ4
