James arrived at Elland Road from Manchester United for an initial £25m in the summer, finally linking up with Marcelo Bielsa, who has been a long-term admirer of his qualities.
However, the winger is yet to sparkle in Leeds colours, having failed to open his account for the Whites in his first nine games for the club in all competitions.
Ex-Leeds star Newsome has questioned Leeds’ decision to snap the Welshman up this summer as he feels they did not need to add to their options on the wing.
Newsome revealed that in hindsight, Leeds would have been better off signing an additional striker and bolstering their midfield with cash they splashed on James, who is yet to set Elland Road on fire, while appearing to have negatively Impacted fellow winger Jack Harrison’s performances.
“When you sit back and evaluate and scratch my head a little bit, the purchase of Daniel James, it is a difficult one”, Newsome said on BBC Radio Leeds while discussing James’ performances since joining Leeds.
“I think it really is a difficult one for me because for a start I did not think it was a position that we needed to strengthen.
“I think it probably had a knock-on effect and affected Jack Harrison in a negative fashion.
“Daniel James has not exactly come in and set the world on fire either in terms of, compare him to say Raphinha.
“Raphinha was a lot cheaper and has lit up Elland Road but has lit up the Premier League as well.
“And I just wonder in hindsight, which hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I just wonder if those funds could have been spent in a better, in a wiser fashion.
“Striker-wise I think we really miss Patrick [Bamford] and we do not have a replacement for him. Midfield, we do not have any legs in there.”
James registered an assist on Sunday in Leeds’ 2-1 top flight win over Norwich City and fans will be hoping they will see his first goal for the club in the near future.
