Daniel James has yet to sign a new contract with Swansea City but is happy to let his football attract admirers from wider afield.
The Wales hero is still in discussions with his current club, but any deal will not reduce the likelihood of the Swans deciding to sell him for anything up to £20m this summer.
The winger’s value is rising steeply after Premier League clubs were given more evidence of his talent when he struck a superb winner as Wales opened their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Slovakia in Cardiff on Sunday.
James was on the verge of joining Leeds United during the final hours of the January transfer window before Swansea pulled the plug on a potential £10m deal.
The 21-year-old is contracted at the Liberty Stadium until 2020, with talks over a new deal ongoing amid reports that the player’s camp are keen to have a buy-out clause inserted.
“That’s still underway,” James said when asked about Swansea contract talks.
“It’s about concentrating on the football for me. This time last season I wasn’t playing first-team football, but it’s something that can happen.
“If you get your opportunity you can take it and now it’s a case of can I do more?”
Leeds were expected to come back in for James this summer, but they will almost certainly face competition from top-flight clubs following his international breakthrough.
Swansea’s finances remain precarious following relegation from the Premier League last season and the club announced last week they are seeking redundancies among all staff other than players and manager Graham Potter.
Swansea have seen 16 senior players depart since relegation and only five arrive, but James has remained upbeat since his Leeds move collapsed amid some acrimony between the two clubs.
“I got back to Swansea and the fans have been great with me,” he said.
“Nothing has changed for me. It was about keep playing football and enjoying it, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
James was born in the Yorkshire market town of Beverley but qualifies for Wales through his Aberdare-born father.
He was at the Hull academy from the age of eight, but he joined Swansea in 2014 and scored on his senior debut in an 8-1 FA Cup victory over Notts County in February 2018.
James has become a Swansea regular this season and made his Wales debut in a low-key friendly away to Albania in November.
He rose to prominence with an incredible solo FA Cup goal against Brentford in February, when he covered 84 yards in just 8.48 seconds before scoring, and was then on target five minutes in to his first competitive start for Wales.
“It’s massive the way the gaffer has trusted the youth,” James said of Wales manager Ryan Giggs.
“A lot of us have played together at the Under-21s and I think that really helps, we’ve got a great team bond.
“The gaffer and Gareth (Bale) have shown me a lot. The gaffer told me for the Slovakia game to keep doing what I do at Swansea and Gareth said ‘keep getting at the full-back’, which is what I did.”
