Magic Yan Dhanda – the trailblazing sorcerer in South Wales

From Anfield to South Wales, Yan Dhanda’s football path is a different one to many young players who leave an elite football club.

So how, on a grey Swansea day, did Dhanda light up a run-of-the-mill Championship encounter? And what has led him, a player who I have kept a close eye on for years, to the starring role he has today after a period in Liverpool’s youth academy. Where has Yan honed his magic?

A dire grey sky weakly illuminated South Wales with trickles of drizzle on the express window from Cardiff Central – Saturday 21st November – a regular gameday in the Sky Bet Championship, and my first covering Swansea City.

Despite the weather leaving me, my laptop case and my coat soaked through, the beacon of light in that moment, the Liberty Stadium, stood like an Oasis in desert sand.

Never before has a stadium just off a roundabout been described as ‘an Oasis in desert sand’. But I’m going with it.

After I entered the ground, refreshed the internet and got myself settled, I noticed the teamsheet. Familiar faces, especially for the home side – one in particular closer to home, being part of my beloved Liverpool’s academy from 2013-2018.

Originally from Birmingham, Dhanda spent his early youth career at West Bromwich Albion before making the move to the North West.

Always a factor in a Dhanda discussion, as it seemed at the time, was that he was only the second British Asian to sign a contract with a Premier League club at that time. Welsh international Neil Taylor, ironically of Swansea at the time, was his singular comrade. He is now one of ten in the Football League.

Ian Ayre, former managing director at the Reds, waxed lyrical of Dhanda’s potential after the tricky midfielder signed his first professional contract.

“We don’t take a player because he is Asian and we don’t not take a player because he is Asian,” 

“It’s about finding the best talent regardless of where they come from. You are only going to choose someone and put them in your squad if they can genuinely compete for a place in your first team.

“Yan has a fantastic opportunity at Liverpool. He is a very talented young man and we hope he will achieve the best he can do.”

Ian Ayre, speaking at the Asian Football Awards in 2o13 – in which Dhanda won the up-and-coming player award.

Acting as a trailblazer at an enormous institution such as Liverpool would not have been easy for a teenage footballer. And being British Asian was not an advantage in youth football for Dhanda.

He experienced racial abuse from a young age – and speaking to the BBC, Dhanda uses these slurs to inspire him every time he steps onto hallowed turf.

“When I was young I got a lot of racism, being Asian, probably because I was better than other kids,

“I got a lot of kids saying ‘you should be doing this job or should be doing that’, or ‘you’re not going to make it – you’re Asian’.

“There were obviously a lot worse words than that, but I am not going to say them.”

Battling this and a promising football career must have put severe pressure on such a young body and mind.

In 2018, Dhanda would leave Liverpool after never breaking through under Jurgen Klopp, despite the Reds making a last-ditch attempt to keep him at the club.

Being let go may have caused Dhanda to go through real hardship. This is Liverpool after all, one of the biggest clubs in the world. But it wasn’t long before Dhanda found his new home.

Swansea City, the so-called ‘Oasis’ of South Wales in my humble copy.

The Swans had just been relegated from the Premier League and were newly headed by one of Europe’s most sought after coaches, Graham Potter.

Originally signed for the club’s under-23 side, he was drafted into the first team squad for the opening game of 2018/19 at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United led through George Baldock, with the future Blades striker Oli McBurnie, then of Swans, levelling for the visitors.

From the sidelines, a surprise sub, a fresh faced attacking midfielder emerged. A 19 year-old Yan Dhanda. With his first touch on minute 85, he fired home past Dean Henderson.

Fast forward two years, 31 more appearances and five more goals – it is Saturday 21st November. Dhanda would cross paths with a young, Liverpool supporting journalist with a particular intrigue in his individual performance.

Immediately, I could see a lot of Adam Lallana in Dhanda. I’m not sure of how much, or on what level the two interacted during the four years they shared at Melwood – but in terms of style, guile and tricky feet, he was Lallana-lite.

Like a magician he weaved in and out of the despairing Rotherham defences – skills that should not be named.

Treble Cruyff turns to win free-kicks, delightful chip through balls. The kid has it all, and at just 21, the perfect place to balance his flair and earn his dues are in the Championship under a brilliant youth coach in Steve Cooper.

Despite the droning drizzle, Yan Dhanda’s performance was a beam of sunlight on the Liberty turf. It is no coincidence that Swansea very nearly threw it away when he was substituted.

Yan the boy wizard – is he becoming a man?

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