Swansea City: Huw Jenkins' Leeds United parting shot cannot be forgotten | OneFootball

Huw Jenkins left Swansea City in February 2019 just days after a controversial transfer decision

The 2018/19 season was a tumultuous one for Swansea, and it reached a nadir on January transfer deadline day, with the club offloading a number of players in a bid to balance the books post-relegation.

Swansea had been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2017/18 season and were forced to offload the vast majority of their Premier League starters that summer, but January appeared to be a quieter, more stable transfer window, until deadline day, that is.

Graham Potter's side performed admirably in the Championship given the players they had lost, purely as a result of the club's academy, with the likes of Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon, George Byers, Dan James and Oli McBurnie all becoming first-team regulars in SA1 for the first time.

Their financial situation meant that they were unable to sign a single player in the January transfer window, which while not ideal, was okay providing they could keep their young, exciting squad together in the transfer window, but deadline day saw a chaotic couple of hours in south Wales.

The likes of Wilfried Bony, Tom Carroll and Jefferson Montero all left the club on loan in the final hours of the transfer window, and had it not been for chairman Huw Jenkins, it could have been even worse.

Huw Jenkins stopped Dan James' Leeds United move

One of the real success stories of Swansea's 2018/19 season was young winger Dan James, who had become a first-team regular for Potter's side, and towards the end of the January transfer window it became clear that Championship rivals Leeds United were keen on a move for him.

To lose an academy product after just half a season of first-team football, particularly to a Championship rival, would have been a devastating blow for Swansea, but as deadline day ticked on, it became clear that the Welshman would be moving to Elland Road.

Swansea supporters were understandably livid, having invested so much into developing James, he was set to leave at the first chance, with the deal structure being a loan until the end of the season, made permanent if Leeds won promotion.

This looked like a poor deal for Swansea, losing one of their brightest prospects with no guarantee of any money upfront from Leeds, and Swans chairman Huw Jenkins couldn't sit back and allow the deal to go through.

James had already posed for photos, signed the relevant documents on his end and done interviews with the club's in-house media team, showing just how far down the line the move was, but Jenkins put a stop to it.

The Swansea chairman had a late change of heart, believing that his side were not getting enough of a return for the player who could be so crucial for them going forward, and which would have left the Swans with no money and without one of their best players.

Speaking to Wales Online in the aftermath, Jenkins said: "I was told a deal was in place for Dan to go to Leeds. It made no sense to me, not for Swansea City financially because there was nothing in it for us.

"As much as others felt the deal could have been done and we could have got something out of it, to me Dan going up to Leeds at the time, risk injury, us rely on a summer transfer, was wrong. I wasn't even sure Leeds would pay the loan fee until the summer.

"I spoke to Graham Potter about it. Remember, part of his mantra was to bring through younger players while making the team competitive. Dan was an important part of that. Graham wanted him to remain until the end of the season and play for Swansea. In playing regularly for us, we felt we would get more value out of any future deal."

Jenkins' decision to "turn his phone off", as some Swansea supporters joked, left Leeds absolutely furious, and James was forced to return to south Wales after being so close to becoming a Leeds United player.

Losing James, as well as Bony, Carroll and Montero on deadline day would have left the Jack Army furious, and Jenkins' decision to stop the move from happening was the right call.

Just two days later, Jenkins resigned from his role as Swansea City chairman after 17 years in charge after facing huge criticism for the club's takeover by American businessmen in 2016.

It was clear that Jenkins wasn't happy with some of the decisions being made by others at the club, with the plan in place to let James join Leeds probably being one of them.

He said: "Gradually over the last few seasons my role as Chairman providing such leadership and direction has been eroded away.

"Finally I can sit back no longer and hide behind my position and stay true to myself and my beliefs."

It was a sad end to what had been a successful 17-year tenure, taking the club from the bottom of the Football League to the Premier League, but Jenkins' parting shot to stop James joining Leeds was a smart move, and Swansea soon profited from that.

Huw Jenkins, Daniel James decision paid off

After his move to Leeds broke down, James took his game to the next level at Swansea, and they sold him in the summer of 2019 to Manchester United for a fee of £15million, a far better deal than the proposed January move to Leeds.

Leeds actually missed out on Premier League promotion, and saw James, a player they so desperately wanted, join their biggest rivals a couple of months later, a heartbreaking outcome for Marcelo Bielsa's side.

The £15million transfer fee Swansea got for James that summer proved that Jenkins absolutely made the right call in not allowing James to join Leeds on loan a couple of months prior, and as parting shots go for a chairman, it proved an excellent one.

Fast-forward five-and-a-half years and James is currently a Leeds United player, joining them on a permanent basis in the summer of 2021, meaning Bielsa finally got his man, albeit two-and-a-half years on.

It actually worked out quite well for all parties, with Swansea receiving big money for James, while he ended up at Leeds anyway, via a spell at Old Trafford.

After 17 years at the club, Jenkins' final action as Swansea chairman ensured his side made big money, and also changed the trajectory of James' career, with the player earning a move to the Premier League with Manchester United.

It was a night that will always be remembered by supporters of both Swansea and Leeds United, and who knows how different things could have been had James moved to Elland Road in January 2019.