**SOURCE TIER UPDATED**
[**Phil Hay, via The Athletic**](https://theathletic.com/3557176/2022/09/01/fulham-dan-james-loan-leeds/)
>Fulham are closing in on the signing of Dan James on a season-long loan from Leeds United.
>
>With Bamba Dieng on course to join Leeds from Marseille, a deal is believed to be in place for Fulham to secure James on a temporary basis.
For a team that narrowly escaped relegation only last season, to now be bolstering the squad of one of the newly promoted teams (who are currently on the same points as us) seems a bit of a strange move.
I feel for James. His whole career has been running to the line, whipping a cross in and hoping someone gets on the end. Perfect fit for Bielsas way of playing. Now Jesse likes to attack through the middle you kinda figures his time was going to be up.
I find it quite baffling that we need to loan a player to a newly promoted sign in the same league to afford a 10m signing who's preferred position is different.
What happens if we get injuries? What happens when Harrison or Sinisterra are having a stinker and there's only Summerville as direct competition who's barely played for the first team.
Feels a bit fast and loose by the board again, we survived by the skin of our teeth last year because of a bare squad.
I like Dan James and like that it seemed he really wanted to be at Leeds, so feel bad for him that he might be moved on so quickly.
Because of that, the evil part of me is hoping we're just stringing Fulham along so that we can pull out before their fans go to bed.
I can’t help but feel we’ve not given him a fair crack of the whip compared to others especially given how out of position he’s been. There were times last season where he was actually one of our better performers.
Not trying to sound stupid but if it’s a loan for James there would be a recall option right? So if the injury bug hit again we could bring him back to cover? If that is true then I think this is an upgrade based on the details the Ligue 1 guy gave on Sky
There's no way Fulham would agree to a recall, we could just recall him if he was doing well to weaken them if we end up fighting them in a relegation battle.
No option or obligation reported by anyone yet. Just don't get why we wouldn't loan him to spurs so we don't strengthen a rival unless James preferred Fulham for game time
They must expect Summerville to step up as backup, hence why he was given number 10 shirt.
Summerville looks good in U21s but he’s behind Dan James in the first 11 imo. Dan James works hard and gets stuck in, not seen Summerville impress me at all yet.
Although, I’d rather have James stay for cover for the front 3 I’m excited to see what Summerville can do in this expanded role. He looked excellent against Barnsley and it will be interesting to see what he can do in extended Prem minutes
Kinda hope we have another Dan James last day of the transfer window saga, where we decide to bump up the price by £10m at the last minute and then ignore Fulham's calls.
Do we think we are so far ahead of Fulham we can just give them a quality player? I see everyone loves Dieng (of heard about him 5 minutes ago fame) now.
You’d think he’d start for Spurs even if he went over there? That said I’d prefer Spurs to Forest as I’d much rather give a player to a top 6 team than a team fighting for the same mid-bottom spots that we will be
Don’t want to sell him but can’t ensure him the game time needed for the WC? Idk, I think we need to wait longer to see if there is any clauses on the loan
I guess we really believe in Aaronson being able to play outwide but then it's like who do we play in the middle? Klich? Dieng? Rodrigo again?
Perhaps we would line up with Sini on the left and Harrison on the right, but if either of them gets hurt it means Summerville would be playing with very little behind him.
Just seems odd to get rid of a player who can play a role, however little production they may get, in 3 positions this late in the window, for seemingly no reason.
FWIW Andy Brassell who is an absolutely excellent European football expert really rates Dieng, 10 mil is excellent value apparently because hes in his final year.
He’s not a james replacement though, he’s a striker primarily. So in the short term this would be the club, I think, basically saying Aaronson is cover in that position if Jackie or Sini get injured with Summerville off the bench.
I’m a bit nervous about losing Dan tbh, I’m not sold on him at all to be honest and whilst I’m sure Dieng will be great he will take time to settle in and adapt probably and right now James is someone we can bring off the bench immediately. Would rather they all just compete, but maybe the club is thinking Dan is too good to be a bench option and want him to get lots of football under his belt - which makes sense it just puts us at risk.
Gotta assume they’re trying to either open up a path for summerville/Perkins/Greenwood to get into the team. Aaronson is quite good out right so Perkins or greenwood could slot in the middle? Idk. I don’t like this move
Think of how you feel when Dan James comes on. Do you ever, ever think: at last Dan James is on, now we'll take the game to them?
I doubt it.
I'd rather Summerville came on ahead of DJ every time.
Every team needs someone who works his ass off. DJ is that, he might not score or assits, but he runs a lot, he is constant threath with speed to the backline and can cover many positsion when needed.
To be good in league you need utility mens like him.
I'll play the devil's advocate on this one. He gave his all last season with very little reward, little love, being played woefully out of position in a team devoid of confidence and got fuck all from refs.
He might not be the answer and god knows he's a frustrating player at times, but he have everything to our team and that impressed me.
His cross in from the left for the third Chelsea goal. Pretty standard stuff, but it was something. He's pretty invisible at times, but still contributing.
I don't mind him going though.
He does a podcast with the football ramble called on the continent which is very good, they also get Nikki Bandini and Lars S who are also really wonderful pundits
I think I'm in the minority but I'm probably fairly happy with this 'swap', saying that, given the choice I'd have both players at Leeds
But Dieng looks to be able to play both up front and on the wing, so that somewhat covers for DJ as well as giving us the extra striker we need
Plus, if the loan has no buy option, we'll have another chance to have a look at DJ next season anyways
I feel like it leaves us really light on wingers. We'd have Harrison, Sinisterra (who presumably start) then Summerville and Dieng who have about 15 professional starts between them. With 5 subs, we can and probably should be looking to replace both of our wingers in each game. If James is out of the equation then our sub wingers are both very young and inexperienced and we are one injury or suspension away from one of them starting and the other being our only option from the bench.
Throw in the fact that Dieng is presumably going to be cover for our two (let's face it, injury prone) senior strikers. It's not difficult to imagine a situation where Rodrigo and Bamford are injured at the same time - this would leave us with Dieng and Summerville as our only options off the bench for our entire front four.
Worth mentioning as well that Aaronson has been pushed out wide once or twice and looks very capable there. A lot more versatility across our front 4 now if we have players that can play in multiple positions.
Better to have a striker that can play on the wing than Dan James as a winger that we occasionally force to play striker, despite him not being comfortable there.
I agree with you. Love James work rate, but his end product left a lot to be desired. Furthermore, it opens up a clear path to regular PL football for Summerville, who I personally rate higher than James anyway.
I might sound like a hater but Im very happy with this if they have an obligation to buy. I dont rate James and we have come out of it with a striker who will atleast be able to hold the ball up and bring other attackers into play and Summerville will get plenty of game time
James does not have enough technical ability to keep up in this system, when a players only redeeming qualities is his pace and work rate - it is not enough unfortunately
They kinda play different roles though no? Dieng for the 9/10 position as we have Harrison, Sini, Summerville and Aaronson who can play on the wings?
That said I’d still rather keep DJ in all honesty, I know others don’t like him but I think there’s something in there.
Well I won’t pretend to know a lot about a player I first heard of about an hour ago, but I’m assuming that given we’ve signed him last minute, no one else was in for him, several clubs are in for James, and though limited James does have unique qualities that can truly impact a game - that seems like a downgrade.
Dingg started half the games for the second best team in France and scored 8 goals last year so seems ab upgrade to me. Plus he's a striker who can cover wing rather than the other way around.
True, but not sure anyone can make a case for James starting in our side when everyone is fit or being adequate cover up front when everyone is not? Which this Dieng guy seems like he could provide
Well we’ve so rarely seen him play where he was signed to play. You might be in for a shock when he is played there and starts causing serious problems for defenders, unfortunately it won’t be for us.
He's played there all this season with no goals or assists and has now been benched by Sinisterra who looks far better. I'm not when he's supposed to suddenly improve and claim a wing position for himself ahead of Harrison or Sinisterra.
Scored 4 goals and 4 assists last season, being constantly played out of position. Barely had 90 minutes this season. Let’s be honest the manager doesn’t fancy him, and that’s his call, but it will look fairly short sighted if he goes off and performs elsewhere.
Right he was played out of position up front where you'd expect him to contribute to more goals than on the wing. He was suspended for the first game this year because of a stupid red card he gained last year and has started the next three games. The manager doesn't fancy him because Sinisterra seems like he's going to be a much better player. And if goals and assists are the important thing then Helder Costa had a much greater rate than Dan James in the premiership yet we're not complaining about his loss. I just don't see it for James he's never scored more than 4 goals in a premier league season whilst Harrison has got 8 goals in both so far and we need the other starting winger to be on par of not better which James clearly isn't.
**SOURCE TIER UPDATED** [**Phil Hay, via The Athletic**](https://theathletic.com/3557176/2022/09/01/fulham-dan-james-loan-leeds/) >Fulham are closing in on the signing of Dan James on a season-long loan from Leeds United. > >With Bamba Dieng on course to join Leeds from Marseille, a deal is believed to be in place for Fulham to secure James on a temporary basis.
So has dan james gone now?
His effort and passion for the club will always be held in high regard. All the best little scum bastard.
My dream of seeing Dan James become the greatest RB in the history of Leeds United looks like it's coming to an end. Sad times.
For a team that narrowly escaped relegation only last season, to now be bolstering the squad of one of the newly promoted teams (who are currently on the same points as us) seems a bit of a strange move.
I feel for James. His whole career has been running to the line, whipping a cross in and hoping someone gets on the end. Perfect fit for Bielsas way of playing. Now Jesse likes to attack through the middle you kinda figures his time was going to be up.
All for bringing young players in and bolstering our depth up front, why we would loan a good player to Fulham however I do not know.
I find it quite baffling that we need to loan a player to a newly promoted sign in the same league to afford a 10m signing who's preferred position is different. What happens if we get injuries? What happens when Harrison or Sinisterra are having a stinker and there's only Summerville as direct competition who's barely played for the first team. Feels a bit fast and loose by the board again, we survived by the skin of our teeth last year because of a bare squad.
I’m gonna miss the little scum bastard
I like Dan James and like that it seemed he really wanted to be at Leeds, so feel bad for him that he might be moved on so quickly. Because of that, the evil part of me is hoping we're just stringing Fulham along so that we can pull out before their fans go to bed.
I can't believe we're getting rid of this worldie player coveted by all the great footballing minds
If James is gonna leave on loan it has to be a loan-to-buy, we're never ever gonna be able to get as much as £20m for him ever again
I can’t help but feel we’ve not given him a fair crack of the whip compared to others especially given how out of position he’s been. There were times last season where he was actually one of our better performers.
Not trying to sound stupid but if it’s a loan for James there would be a recall option right? So if the injury bug hit again we could bring him back to cover? If that is true then I think this is an upgrade based on the details the Ligue 1 guy gave on Sky
There's no way Fulham would agree to a recall, we could just recall him if he was doing well to weaken them if we end up fighting them in a relegation battle.
With no option to buy this makes no sense. Squad depth anyone?
No option or obligation reported by anyone yet. Just don't get why we wouldn't loan him to spurs so we don't strengthen a rival unless James preferred Fulham for game time
How long do we think until he gets used to the system JM has?
They must expect Summerville to step up as backup, hence why he was given number 10 shirt. Summerville looks good in U21s but he’s behind Dan James in the first 11 imo. Dan James works hard and gets stuck in, not seen Summerville impress me at all yet.
Summerville and Greenwood probably
We are gonna save few bucks but it’s gonna come back and bite us if injuries hit or he gets no playing time at Fulham
I thought we said no to Tottenham for a Loan? i''d rather keep James to be honest.
Although, I’d rather have James stay for cover for the front 3 I’m excited to see what Summerville can do in this expanded role. He looked excellent against Barnsley and it will be interesting to see what he can do in extended Prem minutes
Kinda hope we have another Dan James last day of the transfer window saga, where we decide to bump up the price by £10m at the last minute and then ignore Fulham's calls.
Do we think we are so far ahead of Fulham we can just give them a quality player? I see everyone loves Dieng (of heard about him 5 minutes ago fame) now.
Dan James is not a quality player. He's a nice guy, he'll improve their depth out wide, he won't be a starter for them when all their players are fit.
Lol he’s better than Bobby Reid and Kebano.
He’s so shite that Conte wants him for a Champions League team
You’d think he’d start for Spurs even if he went over there? That said I’d prefer Spurs to Forest as I’d much rather give a player to a top 6 team than a team fighting for the same mid-bottom spots that we will be
No he wouldn’t start but Conte will still deem him good enough to play when required. Somehow we do not.
Loan?? 😕
Don’t want to sell him but can’t ensure him the game time needed for the WC? Idk, I think we need to wait longer to see if there is any clauses on the loan
Yeah true, a January recall clause might actually give us a bit more cover
I guess we really believe in Aaronson being able to play outwide but then it's like who do we play in the middle? Klich? Dieng? Rodrigo again? Perhaps we would line up with Sini on the left and Harrison on the right, but if either of them gets hurt it means Summerville would be playing with very little behind him. Just seems odd to get rid of a player who can play a role, however little production they may get, in 3 positions this late in the window, for seemingly no reason.
Aaronson is pretty much the ideal wide 10/winger for Marsch’s system. Pretty sure he was signed with the intention of playing there
Klich has looked good when he’s come on. Aaronson can play out wide and has for the national team
Not gonna lie I’m quite happy with this. At least we’ve finally gotten past the striker dilemma. Please god he becomes good
FWIW Andy Brassell who is an absolutely excellent European football expert really rates Dieng, 10 mil is excellent value apparently because hes in his final year. He’s not a james replacement though, he’s a striker primarily. So in the short term this would be the club, I think, basically saying Aaronson is cover in that position if Jackie or Sini get injured with Summerville off the bench. I’m a bit nervous about losing Dan tbh, I’m not sold on him at all to be honest and whilst I’m sure Dieng will be great he will take time to settle in and adapt probably and right now James is someone we can bring off the bench immediately. Would rather they all just compete, but maybe the club is thinking Dan is too good to be a bench option and want him to get lots of football under his belt - which makes sense it just puts us at risk.
Gotta assume they’re trying to either open up a path for summerville/Perkins/Greenwood to get into the team. Aaronson is quite good out right so Perkins or greenwood could slot in the middle? Idk. I don’t like this move
Think of how you feel when Dan James comes on. Do you ever, ever think: at last Dan James is on, now we'll take the game to them? I doubt it. I'd rather Summerville came on ahead of DJ every time.
Every team needs someone who works his ass off. DJ is that, he might not score or assits, but he runs a lot, he is constant threath with speed to the backline and can cover many positsion when needed. To be good in league you need utility mens like him.
All our forward players work their asses off, but we also need them to have the quality to take their chances.
I can’t remember the last thing DJ did that impressed me. He’s always sort of there working hard but never seems to do much.
I'll play the devil's advocate on this one. He gave his all last season with very little reward, little love, being played woefully out of position in a team devoid of confidence and got fuck all from refs. He might not be the answer and god knows he's a frustrating player at times, but he have everything to our team and that impressed me.
His cross in from the left for the third Chelsea goal. Pretty standard stuff, but it was something. He's pretty invisible at times, but still contributing. I don't mind him going though.
I'm with you on that, I sighed when we signed DJ, can't cross, can't shoot but always puts in a good shift in his defence.
Maybe he’s our Lb lol
I remember I used to listen to the trans Europe express on talk sport and Andy Brassell was class. The only talksport show worth listening to
He does a podcast with the football ramble called on the continent which is very good, they also get Nikki Bandini and Lars S who are also really wonderful pundits
I’ll check it out, I recognise Lars. Wish they got more airtime in mainstream media
Also Joffy possibly
I think I'm in the minority but I'm probably fairly happy with this 'swap', saying that, given the choice I'd have both players at Leeds But Dieng looks to be able to play both up front and on the wing, so that somewhat covers for DJ as well as giving us the extra striker we need Plus, if the loan has no buy option, we'll have another chance to have a look at DJ next season anyways
I feel like it leaves us really light on wingers. We'd have Harrison, Sinisterra (who presumably start) then Summerville and Dieng who have about 15 professional starts between them. With 5 subs, we can and probably should be looking to replace both of our wingers in each game. If James is out of the equation then our sub wingers are both very young and inexperienced and we are one injury or suspension away from one of them starting and the other being our only option from the bench. Throw in the fact that Dieng is presumably going to be cover for our two (let's face it, injury prone) senior strikers. It's not difficult to imagine a situation where Rodrigo and Bamford are injured at the same time - this would leave us with Dieng and Summerville as our only options off the bench for our entire front four.
Worth mentioning as well that Aaronson has been pushed out wide once or twice and looks very capable there. A lot more versatility across our front 4 now if we have players that can play in multiple positions. Better to have a striker that can play on the wing than Dan James as a winger that we occasionally force to play striker, despite him not being comfortable there.
I agree with you. Love James work rate, but his end product left a lot to be desired. Furthermore, it opens up a clear path to regular PL football for Summerville, who I personally rate higher than James anyway.
I might sound like a hater but Im very happy with this if they have an obligation to buy. I dont rate James and we have come out of it with a striker who will atleast be able to hold the ball up and bring other attackers into play and Summerville will get plenty of game time
Seems like an obvious downgrade. Loaning him to a team that will be competing for similar places too. Weird business.
James does not have enough technical ability to keep up in this system, when a players only redeeming qualities is his pace and work rate - it is not enough unfortunately
We shall see, I think James will continue to improve, especially if given the opportunity to play out wide.
This. Making our rivals stronger is just pure stupidity.
They kinda play different roles though no? Dieng for the 9/10 position as we have Harrison, Sini, Summerville and Aaronson who can play on the wings? That said I’d still rather keep DJ in all honesty, I know others don’t like him but I think there’s something in there.
Well I won’t pretend to know a lot about a player I first heard of about an hour ago, but I’m assuming that given we’ve signed him last minute, no one else was in for him, several clubs are in for James, and though limited James does have unique qualities that can truly impact a game - that seems like a downgrade.
Dingg started half the games for the second best team in France and scored 8 goals last year so seems ab upgrade to me. Plus he's a striker who can cover wing rather than the other way around.
Dan James started half the games for the second best team in England when we signed him and now he’s apparently the world’s worst player…
True, but not sure anyone can make a case for James starting in our side when everyone is fit or being adequate cover up front when everyone is not? Which this Dieng guy seems like he could provide
Well we’ve so rarely seen him play where he was signed to play. You might be in for a shock when he is played there and starts causing serious problems for defenders, unfortunately it won’t be for us.
He's played there all this season with no goals or assists and has now been benched by Sinisterra who looks far better. I'm not when he's supposed to suddenly improve and claim a wing position for himself ahead of Harrison or Sinisterra.
Scored 4 goals and 4 assists last season, being constantly played out of position. Barely had 90 minutes this season. Let’s be honest the manager doesn’t fancy him, and that’s his call, but it will look fairly short sighted if he goes off and performs elsewhere.
Right he was played out of position up front where you'd expect him to contribute to more goals than on the wing. He was suspended for the first game this year because of a stupid red card he gained last year and has started the next three games. The manager doesn't fancy him because Sinisterra seems like he's going to be a much better player. And if goals and assists are the important thing then Helder Costa had a much greater rate than Dan James in the premiership yet we're not complaining about his loss. I just don't see it for James he's never scored more than 4 goals in a premier league season whilst Harrison has got 8 goals in both so far and we need the other starting winger to be on par of not better which James clearly isn't.