Wales manager Rob Page has suggested Dan James was "mismanaged" by Manchester United and claimed the Reds should have been prepared for his inconsistent form.
James arrived at Old Trafford from Championship club Swansea for £15million in 2019, but he failed to establish himself at United and was sold to Leeds in 2021. The winger played 74 times for the Reds, registering nine goals and nine assists before leaving for Elland Road.
The 25-year-old, who has 42 caps and five international goals for Wales, also struggled for minutes with Leeds before being loaned out to newly-promoted Fulham last summer. He has made just three top-flight starts for the Cottagers, with Marco Silva using James mainly as a substitute.
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Despite the player's lack of consistent game time in recent seasons, Wales boss Page insists James remains an important part of his plans as he aims to restore the attacker's confidence, which he believes was dented while he was at Old Trafford.
"The difference in expectation from being in a Swansea team to a Man United team is chalk and cheese," he said. "At times, they can be mismanaging players. DJ went into a club that was expected to win games. When he was scoring goals and creating chances, he was brilliant.
"When that doesn’t quite happen, then there is a time you have to pull a young player out and protect him a little bit - knowing that a young player’s form is going to be inconsistent and you have to accept that. I think he could have been managed a little bit differently when you have a player going from the Championship to the Premier League. No doubt he was going to hit a little bit of a dip in form.
"It is my job now and the staff to get him back up to the levels he has shown before because we know we have a great asset in DJ with his pace. The Leeds move was another big club which didn’t quite work out for him. But DJ’s success with us has been playing wide left. We will get him back playing football and get him in the right frame of mind. He has still got the same ability and is the same talent."
All of James' appearances for United came under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The 25-year-old Welshman has registered a goal and an assist in his two appearances against the Reds, with the winger scoring in Fulham's 2-1 defeat to Erik ten Hag's side earlier in the season.
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