Opinion: James should be proud of first year in Red

However, when the season did finally get up and running, the attacker had to settle for a place on the bench against Chelsea on the opening weekend. That grey August afternoon at Old Trafford was memorable for a number of reasons: a crushing 4-0 win over our old rivals, Pogba’s passing, Rashford’s finishing, but it was James’s 16-minute cameo that stole the spotlight for most.

Brought on with the score at 3-0, our no.21 certainly wanted to leave his mark on proceedings, and when Paul Pogba released the winger on the edge of the box he had one thought on his mind: shoot.

It certainly wasn’t the cleanest of finishes, but Dan, and the 73,000-odd supporters in the Theatre of Dreams didn’t care. After a summer of family loss for James, the emotion spilt over in his celebrations. It truly was a touching moment to see the euphoria that accompanied that goal and it remains one of my personal highlights of the season so far.

After that, it seemed to be a doddle for Dan, who took the Premier League in his stride. A maiden top-flight start followed eight days later, in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, before James netted against Crystal Palace the subsequent week.