Graham Potter has urged Daniel James to stay at Swansea City in order to fulfil his long-term potential.
James gave more evidence of his rare talent on Tuesday night with another goal and unstoppable performance in his side’s 3-0 victory over Brentford at the Liberty Stadium.
The Wales youngster scored his second goal in three matches, rattled the crossbar, and caused plenty of problems with his pace against the same opposition he destroyed with a wonder goal in the FA Cup.
But the 21-year-old – who still has over a year left on his current contract – has not yet agreed to sign any new deal with talks stalling on the value of any buy-out clause.
Potter wants James to spend at least another season at the Liberty Stadium and thinks it would benefit the player’s development to remain where he has thrived.
“I want him to stay here and help him improve,” said Potter. “I want to enable him to be at the top of the game for as long as he can be.
“Dan and his representatives are obviously involved and we’re hopeful. We will do our best. It’s as simple as that.
“The most important thing for me is that he is enjoying his football and improving. It’s his first season in senior football and he still has a lot to do.
“He shows real quality and real courage in what he’s trying to do. We are pleased to have him.
“But you have to respect the individual and respect that he has got his career to think about. All I can do is be here for him and help him.”
Potter had praise for both his wingers Nathan Dyer and James as his side sealed a comfortable win to end a four-game losing streak.
Dyer scored after just 32 seconds and added a second before the break to record his first league goals since August 2014, while James made the game safe late on to top an excellent display.
Potter added: “I was hoping Nathan would get a hat-trick.
“He has had an interesting season and it is great for him to get rewarded for influencing the game.
“It was a great assist from the goalkeeper for his second goal and Daniel did great for the first one.
“It was another big performance from Dan. He started well and he has such courage. He gets kicked about, but he gets back up and goes again.”
Potter had seen his team lose four-straight matches prior to meeting the Bees.
“I am delighted. The performance in the first half was of a really high level,” he said. “We hit the crossbar a couple of times and had real courage.
“I am really pleased for the players as they have had a bit of pain. We were aware of the quality of our performances, but we had not turned those into results.
“It is nice to do that tonight and get three points.”
Dyer opened the scoring as James capitalised on a poor backpass from Brentford defender Mads Bech Sorensen.
Bees goalkeeper Luke Daniels wiped out James and was booked, but referee Peter Bankes played advantage and Dyer could not miss.
James struck the crossbar with a curling effort and Bersant Celina and Connor Roberts both went close before Dyer made it 2-0.
Swansea goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt hammered the ball down field in route one fashion, the Brentford defence was all at sea and Dyer slotted the ball through Daniels’ legs.
Celina struck the crossbar with a free-kick before the break and should have made it 3-0 early in the second half, but James scored Swansea’s third late on after Roberts had struck the post.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank said: “In the last four games we have had no wins, but if you look at the performances, I would say they have been OK.
“Today the first-half performance was bad in every aspect. It doesn’t help if you concede two soft goals and one after 30 seconds.
“We knew Swansea are one of the best footballing sides in the division. They are very good on the ball.
“We had to do a lot of chasing and it meant that when we got the ball, we were tired.
“What Swansea did well compared to us was use their pace in behind, especially with James. He has the potential to be a Premier League player, but I hope Swansea can keep him.”