Dan James outlines key Manor Solomon 'hope' as Leeds United transfer business assessed

Dan James believes Manor Solomon will prove an exciting addition to the Leeds United squad - so long as previous injury issues can be put to bed.

James will represent a familiar face for two of Leeds’ summer arrivals after spells at Manchester United and Fulham. The Welsh winger was in Manchester during Largie Ramazani’s formative years in the academy set up before a loan move from Yorkshire to Craven Cottage saw him play alongside Solomon.

Ramazani went on to impress at UD Almeria in Spain and eventually earned a £10million return to England with Leeds, and while Solomon undoubtedly has the quality, fitness issues have hindered his time at Tottenham Hotspur. The Israeli international impressed on debut a little over a week ago, setting up Mateo Joseph for the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Hull City, and James hopes to see plenty more from the pair he has reunited with.

“I trained quite a few times with Largie before when he was 17 and he was a great prospect,” James told the Second Tier podcast. “He’s gone out to Spain, done well and he’s a great addition. I know Manor well, brilliant player, one that I’m sure the fans will be very excited by. He’s been very unlucky with injuries. I hope he can stay fit now.”

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The arrivals of Solomon and Ramazani went some way to filling the huge gaps left by Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville, whose form last season earned Premier League moves to Brighton and West Ham respectively. Archie Gray and Glen Kamara also left for top-flight football in a busy summer of ins and outs at Elland Road.

While the marquee late-summer arrival - a Roland Sallai or Gustavo Hamer - that many hoped for never materialised, Leeds managed to fill the key squad gaps and brought in a number of exciting players. James remains one of the more experienced members of a young squad and hopes to see those new arrivals step up to the plate for another promotion push.

“Yeah definitely, we obviously sold players early but we’ve got quite a few in late on in the window and they’ve been great additions to the squad,” the Whites winger added. “We always knew that getting rid of players we had to bring some in and I think everyone was looking forward to it, but they’re great additions to the squad. It’s a long season so everyone has to be ready.”

James missed the victory over Hull with a hamstring injury and was therefore unable to join Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Charlie Crew and Karl Darlow with Wales, but the issue is thought to be minor. Farke will be quizzed on squad fitness for Saturday’s meeting with Burnley later this week.