Leeds United loanee relishing renewed competition and reveals Elland Road return desire

The Welsh international signed for Leeds in a £25 million deal back in the summer of 2021 but struggled to make a considerable impact during his first season at the club, often utilised out of position at centre-forward.

Now, into the third year of his contract at Elland Road, James finds himself back in the Championship, where he almost initially joined Leeds from Swansea City two years prior to his eventual arrival.

The 25-year-old is keen to hit the ground running this year and is in line for a start tomorrow afternoon as the Whites take on Cardiff City in their 2023/24 season opener.

Speaking to the YEP following Leeds’ 1-0 win over Heart of Midlothian last weekend, James said: “It's been great [to be back]. I think we've been doing really well in pre-season. It's been quite a short pre-season as well and I think we've shown what we're about, especially today, with the way we want to control the ball, our counter-attacking, our counter-press.

"We've just got to push on now, it's a great win and this game and last game is clean sheet and I think that's so important in this league as well.”

James had a goal disallowed in the victory at Tynecastle, as Patrick Bamford was deemed to have obstructed the Hearts goalkeeper whilst stood in an offside position as James curled in a second Leeds goal of the afternoon.

“I'm just happy to be back here. I can't wait to play in front of the crowd next Sunday,” James added. “I spent time down at Fulham last season, I think towards the end of the season, you start thinking about what you can do next season. And for me, it was I wanted to come back, I wanted to help the team win, to help the team, show as much as I can. So I'm really happy to be back. I'm looking forward to playing at Elland Road again.”

The right-sided speedster scored three times during his loan spell at Craven Cottage last term, however Fulham opted not to purchase the winger outright upon the conclusion of his season-long stay in West London.

“I think it's brilliant,” James adds, on the competition for places in wide areas at Elland Road. “You can't really settle in that position and you've got to push on, you've got to give everything and knowing that players can come on in your position and do really well. So, I think we've got great options in that area of the pitch.

"We want to push on this season, with big expectation. I think it's important for us to have the backing of a good bench that can come on. We've got very good young players as well. And I think we've got a good mixture of senior and young players. And as I said, we've got competition in each area, and that's brilliant for the whole team.”

James retains his No. 20 shirt for the 2023/24 campaign and could be deployed in attack versus the Bluebirds with injuries to Patrick Bamford, Georginio Rutter and Mateo Joseph.