Our season since the turn of the year has focused on three main topics. One, earning promotion to the Premier League, two, will Marcelo Bielsa be our manager next season, and three, our failed efforts to sign Daniel James on Deadline Day.
A recent story by Football Insider, however, suggests our efforts to sign the Welsh winger are far from over, with sources claiming we are still holding behind-the-scenes discussions with the player’s representatives.
We have supposedly remained hot on the 21-year-old’s case, despite Swansea pulling the plug on our loan-to-buy arrangement in January, and are eager to get a deal across the line when the current campaign is over.
We do, however, need to secure our berth in the top-flight first, in order to best place the Whites in the queue forming for his signature. What may also help our standing is that the discussions held to date have focused, in some capacity, on how Bielsa will be able to help James’ game reach a higher level.
The current squad shows the boss is able to get the most out of players other managers would likely have cast into the wilderness, and James should pay particular attention to that during his contract discussions with Swansea.
Another way to look at Football Insider’s report is to focus on Bielsa’s involvement in the discussions.
Ever since the 63-year-old was appointed, rumours have swirled around West Yorkshire that he only ever saw the job as a one-year mission should we fall short in securing promotion.
That, unfortunately, does not appear to have gone away, but there are no guarantees, either, that our efforts to sign James – and thus the boss’ impact on his development – will be done and dusted should we face another year in the Championship.
It is very much a silver lining approach to the uncertainty, but it is better to be optimistic in times of doubt that fear for the worst.