Swansea City boss Graham Potter drops Daniel James hint ahead of Leeds United clash

James turned out for Swansea for the first time on Saturday since the Welsh club pulled the plug on a deal which would have seen him sign for Leeds on loan to the end of the season.

The 21-year-old was ready to join United’s promotion bid and underwent a medical at Thorp Arch before seeing the move collapse shortly before the 11pm January deadline.

Huw Jenkins, who refused to sanction a transfer agreed by Swansea’s owners, resigned as City chairman 48 hours later.

James sat out of the Swans 2-0 defeat to Bristol City on February 2 as he came to terms with the events of deadline day but Potter named him in his starting line-up for a 1-0 win over Millwall at the weekend.

City travel to Elland Road on Wednesday and Potter is now considering how to use James on what is likely to be an emotionally challenging evening for the Wales international.

“He’s available for selection for Leeds,” Potter said.”You just have to watch it with three games in a week and how quickly he can recover because he sprints so much.

“He should be ok and his performance (against Millwall) was really, really good. It was a Dan James performance which is one of incredible effort. He was explosive, got the crowd on their feet, he got hit and got up and worked to do his best for the team.

“It was a fully committed performance and I was really proud of him.”

James’ agent, David Manasseh, criticised Swansea publicly after his transfer fell through but James resumed training with Swansea at the beginning of last week. City are now attempting to tie him to a new contract.

Leeds, who were ready to pay £7m to sign James permanently if they won promotion to the Premier League this season, are continuing to monitor him with a view to bidding for him again in the summer window.