Leeds United showed transfer 'interest' in Manchester United academy graduate who just joined Wrexham
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Leeds United reportedly showed ‘interest’ in signing Matty James on a free transfer as part of their search for midfield reinforcements, as detailed in a report by the Daily Mail, along with fellow Championship side Coventry City. The midfielder is joining Wrexham in League One on short-term deal instead.
The 33-year-old, who is a former England youth international, cut ties with Bristol City at the end of the last campaign. The Robins opted against extending his stay at Ashton Gate and he has been weighing up his options as a free agent since the summer. Leeds could have seen him as a potential option to plug the gap left in their midfield by injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev. However, they have recently brought in Josuha Guilavogui instead.
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Hide AdJames rose up through the academy ranks at Manchester United and was a regular for the Premier League side at various different youth levels. He was handed his first professional contract at Old Trafford back in 2009.
Career to date
The Lancashire-born man never made a senior appearance for the Red Devils though. He was given the green light to leave on loan to get some experience under his belt and had two spells with Preston North End in the Football League.
He then joined Leicester City on a permanent basis in 2012 and went on to spend nine years at the King Power Stadium, some of which he spent with Barnsley and Coventry on temporary deals. James played 117 matches for the Foxes and was on their books when they won the title back in 2016 against the odds.
Bristol City snapped him up three years ago and he was a regular for the Robins. He made 117 outings during his time there and found the net on seven occasions, three of which came in the last campaign.
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Hide AdTheir boss Liam Manning hailed his influence last term and said: “Jamo’s still really important. We had a look at the first XI and he’s started nine for us and it got to such a heavy period, with his injury history and where he’s at, we knew we needed to have a tweak and rotate because obviously his minutes were so high for us.
“With the demands of the league, with it being so physical, especially in that area of the pitch, when you look at it, what we have got is three really high level competitors in there. They bring different qualities and the big thing is when you tweak it, change it, we haven’t traded off the level, which has been key.
“Jamo’s massive, I have a terrific relationship with him. I speak with him a lot, he speaks in the changing room. I put a lot of responsibility on him adding a voice to the group because of the experience and the knowledge he’s got and he’s someone who’s important for what we do.”
Leeds face Bristol City this weekend. The Whites won 2-0 at home to Watford last time out and want to keep their momentum going.
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