Daniel James interview: 'Comparing me to Kylian Mbappe! It’s a bit crazy'

James' breakthrough season has led to a first Welsh cap and a £10m bid from Leeds
James' breakthrough season has led to a first Welsh cap and a £10m bid from Leeds Credit: GETTY IMAGES

From not getting a game at League One Shrewsbury Town, to almost going on loan to League Two Yeovil Town to breaking through at Swansea City to making his Wales debut to a £10million move to Leeds United collapsing at the 11th hour to becoming an internet sensation through an extraordinary solo goal in the FA Cup. It has been a rapid rise for Daniel James.

Just as rapid as he is on the pitch with the 21-year-old Swansea winger being one of the fastest players in football. “I’m quite quick,” James says, sheepishly, and understandably not really wanting to get drawn into comparisons; even if I then do just that.

Clubs measure speed in kilometres per hour – rather than seconds over a distance – and James’ best is seriously impressive. “36 (kph),” he says. “I’m sure there are players a lot quicker than me. When people compare me to Kylian Mbappe, I am not quicker than him. There are players like Adama Traore in the Premier League (at Wolverhampton Wanderers) who could have been a sprinter. He’s 10.5 (over 100m), I think?”

Well, to put James’ best into context the official Fifa World Cup record, on the pitch, was set by Arjen Robben in 2014 at 37kph (22.99m). Traore has also been clocked at that speed; Gareth Bale is just under at 36.9kph; Mbappe at 36kph, Theo Walcott at 35.7kph and Leroy Sane at 35.48kph.

The Mbappe comparison came courtesy of BT Sport following James’ brilliant goal in the last round of the FA Cup which has set up a quarter-final, at home, against Manchester City. Swansea were drawing 1-1 with fellow Championship club Brentford when James blocked Neal Maupay’s shot.

“The ball hit me in the stomach and I just looked up and saw 50, 60 yards of space, which you don’t usually get because with a free-kick that high up you’d expect a defender to be on the half-way line,” James explains. “As I pushed the ball ahead of me I knew I was going to win the race and it was just about being composed at the end and fortunately I was.”

In total James covered 84 yards in 8.48 seconds before scoring, leaving Brentford players in his wake and sparking a 4-1 victory with the broadcaster tweeting: “Who’d win the race between Daniel James and Kylian Mbappe?”

“They tweeted it, didn’t they?” James says, laughing. “Comparing me to Kylian Mbappe! It’s a bit crazy. Nah, I had some good things from it and my Twitter feed went a bit mad for the next two or three days. But, no, I can’t be compared to him in any way.”

It was not James’ only contribution. He set up two other goals, three yellow cards were awarded for bringing him down and Brentford’s Ezri Konsa was sent off for a professional foul on him.

If things had worked out differently James would not have had the chance to score that goal. It has been a tough season at Swansea following Premier League relegation, after seven seasons in the top-flight, with 16 senior players leaving and only five signed amid a financial crisis. It looked like James was also on his way in January.

Leeds made a bid - £1.5million rising to £7million if they were promoted and £10million in total with further add-ons – and James had his medical and was at Elland Road on deadline day ready to sign before the move collapsed. Was it tough to go back to Swansea?

James covered 84 yards in 8.48 seconds before scoring against Brentford in the FA Cup last month
James covered 84 yards in 8.48 seconds before scoring against Brentford in the FA Cup last month Credit: GETTY IMAGES

“A lot of people ask me that,” James says. “But it wasn’t hard because I was coming back to a place that I love and where I was playing. It wasn’t like I was out of the team and I wanted to really leave. I think it’s in the past now, I am really happy here and looking forward to what will come.”

Talks are on-going over a new contract at Swansea. “I think the negotiations are taking place now,” James says, rapping his knuckles on the table to ‘touch wood’. “I am just waiting on that, I’m happy with it and am letting my agent and the club deal with it and hopefully it happens soon… I want to get into the Premier League and I’d love to do it with Swansea. There may be a time (when I have to leave) but that’s in the future.”

Given this is James’ breakthrough season the growing interest – Premier League clubs are taking note - shows the impact he has made, something Swansea’s impressive manager Graham Potter has stressed. “The gaffer mentions it a lot,” James says, reflecting on how far he has already come which includes being capped for Wales in the friendly against Albania last November.

“Last season I went to Shrewsbury and it didn’t really work out. I didn’t play and I was quite down on myself. My expectations were high on the back of a good season with the (Swansea) under-23s but I didn’t get a game at all and came back early. I grounded myself again.

“I got my FA Cup debut (in the 8-1 win against Notts County in February 2018) and scored and that kind of lifted me a bit. Obviously I wanted Swansea to stay in the Premier League but when they did go down I did think ‘am I going to get my chance?’

“But after pre-season I hadn’t played loads and was thinking ‘maybe not now’. I knew Yeovil in League Two were interested and I said to the gaffer ‘what do you think of me going on loan there?’ and he just said ‘I feel you can be a player here, you can do something for the team’.

“At the time I thought ‘is he just saying that to keep me happy?’ But he chucked me in at Birmingham, first game, a tough game and I came on because he believed in me. Maybe people thought I wasn’t physical enough but I made my first start against Ipswich (last October) and that set me.”

Adversity has meant Swansea have turned to youth. Twelve players have made their league debuts with James, who moved to Swansea from Hull City when he was 16, Oli McBurnie, Connor Roberts and Joe Roden all doing well. “We are a young team, a developing team and I saw a stat the other day that showed we had the most players Under-23 with the most minutes in the Championship – by a good 3,000-4,000 minutes,” James says.

The City tie will raise their profile even more and James is hoping to face one player in particular. “Raheem Sterling,” he says. “The way he plays is the way I want to be. He’s learned a lot since he went from Liverpool to Man City – the way he has added goals and assists. I think Pep (Guardiola) has been a massive influence.

“He’s a very, very quick player and just uses his pace in different ways, he’s brilliant at getting in behind and that’s something I want to be better at. I want to learn every day. I am always hungry for more. A lot of people say I’ve come a long way but it doesn’t matter whether it’s been six months or two years – I always want to be better.”

Part of that learning is to adapt to becoming a marked man. “At the start I was a secret and people didn’t know much about me,” James says. “Now they double up on me or stay closer and sometimes I’ve got frustrated but it’s just about – if I am not getting the ball what can I do to get others on it?”

With that he admits that Swansea are unlikely to see much of the ball against City. “It’s going to be a very different game,” he says. “But we are a passing side and that’s what we are going to try and do even against Man City.”

Swansea fans will hope that James gets the chance to show his pace. So could he have been a sprinter? “No, definitely not,” he says. “I am too small – I’ve only got short legs! I did athletics when I was at school. I ran the 100 metres but I got beat once so stopped doing it.” There are not many who can catch him on a football pitch, though.

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