Leeds United’s red hot winger put pen to paper on a new contract earlier this week.
Luke Ayling insists a new contract for former Leeds United teammate Daniel James is ‘fully deserved’ ahead of the latter’s return to the Premier League.
Leeds confirmed on Monday evening that James, whose previous deal expired in June 2026, had put pen to paper on a new four-year deal, committing his long-term future to the club he joined in 2021. The 27-year-old reached 20 league goal contributions for the second consecutive campaign last season, scoring 12 and adding nine assists in a huge contribution towards the Championship title.
James will no doubt have been congratulated by his current teammates in person as pre-season training ramps up ahead of a weekend trip to Stockholm - where he’ll face former club Manchester United. But a recent Leeds exit and Elland Road favourite also sent a message across via Instagram, with Ayling writing alongside a pair of white heart emojis: “Fully deserved brother”.
Daniel James gets fresh Premier League shot with Leeds United
That new deal will keep James in West Yorkshire until 2029 and allow him another chance at proving himself in the Premier League, this time going into the top-flight with huge momentum and confidence. His previous move up the divisions came via a £15million move from Swansea City to Manchester United but he fell to the fringes before joining Leeds for £25m two years later.
But a combination of injuries elsewhere and squad depth issues saw James spend large parts of his first campaign at Leeds upfront, a positional change that did not come naturally. He joined Fulham on loan in the summer of 2022 and had virtually no part to play in the relegation campaign, but returned with no fuss to become a huge part of Farke’s promotion plans.
Read More
Across two Championship campaigns, James registered 25 goals and 16 assists across 79 league appearances, keeping the likes of Willy Gnonto and Largie Ramazani out of the starting line-up last season. The jet-heeled winger has been spotted getting back into the swing of things during pre-season this month and will join his teammates in Sweden this weekend.
Leeds’ pre-season preparations kick up a notch on Saturday when they face future Premier League rivals Manchester United at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm, with a training camp in Germany to follow. Farke’s side then host Spanish outfit Villarreal at Elland Road in early August before facing AC Milan in Dublin on August 9.
James and his Leeds teammates will then kick off their 2025/26 Premier League campaign at home to Everton on Monday August 18, That fixture has been picked for live TV broadcast by Sky Sports, as have the two following meetings with Arsenal and Newcastle United.
Continue Reading