Leeds United winger Dan James believes he can learn from former Newcastle United and Liverpool star

In the 26-year-old’s eight years as a professional, he has worked under a slew of high-profile managers.

He worked under Carlos Carvalhal and Graham Potter at Swansea City, before joining Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Manchester United. When James first arrived at Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa was still at the helm at Elland Road.

Bellamy, an esteemed former Premier League wideman, will now join the list of managers to have coached James.

Although expected to miss Bellamy’s first games as Wales boss through injury, James is relishing the prospect of learning under the Dragons icon.

Speaking to the Press Association, James said: “I watched Craig from a young age and he played the game with passion and determination. He did that for Wales right through his career and for a number of top clubs as well.

“Craig never backed down from a challenge and was always looking to be direct and selfish in a good way.

“He had an unbelievable work ethic, made a lot of runs in behind defences and scored goals. He obviously played in my position and you are definitely going to learn from someone like that.”

Bellamy has taken the reins having previously worked alongside Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht and Burnley.

James said: “Everyone will be going into camp excited for the future. Craig has shown the same passion as a coach as he did as a player. He worked with Vincent Kompany at Burnley and everyone talks highly of what he did there.”

Leeds have a strong Welsh contingent in their squad, with Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Charlie Crew all capped by the Dragons at senior level.

Understudy goalkeeper Karl Darlow has a chance to join that list following his first call-up to the Wales squad.

James said: “Karl’s a great friend of mine but I only found out recently that he was qualified to play for Wales. He’s a great goalkeeper who has played a lot of first-team games.

“We’re a young team and Karl’s experience will be good for us going into the competitions we’ve got coming up.”