Everton’s decision to sack Frank Lampard is set to cost them the loan signing of Arnaut Danjuma, with Tottenham swooping to hijack the transfer.
The Villarreal star believed the Toffees would stick by the beleaguered former Chelsea boss, only to dismiss Lampard on Monday afternoon. Bournemouth, who had offered more in wages for the 25-year-old winger than Everton, believed they could be the beneficiaries of Monday’s chaos at Goodison Park.
But Tottenham have moved in to hand Danjuma the chance to take part in their fight for next season’s Champions League. The north Londoners are looking for a wide-man as luckless Lucas Moura struggles with a tendon injury that has plagued him throughout the season. The Brazilian is set to leave the club when his contract expires in June.
Although Danjuma is understood to have completed a Goodison medical, he did not finalise the paperwork, allowing Spurs the opportunity to move in. He was expected at the fifth-placed club’s training facility on Tuesday afternoon with a view to undergoing a medical and signing off on the deal.
He had been keen to work with Lampard having admired him as a player and having been of the belief that the ex-England midfielder could guide the club out of their nightmare run of form. Everton have won three of their 20 games so far this season and were beaten 2-0 at West Ham last weekend.
But many fans feel the club’s hierarchy are as culpable as the manager for burning through seven managers in seven years and wasting over half a billion pounds on players failing to deliver a return on the investment. Tottenham moved for Danjuma after Roma played hardball in the face of the north Londoners’ pursuit of Nicolo Zaniolo. The Italian club were unprepared to accept an offer of around £26million with target-based clauses.
Tottenham fans are hoping the signing of Danjuma sparks an end-of-season spree that kick-starts their bid to make next season’s Champions League. The club remain in talks with Sporting over their highly-rated right-back Pedro Porro and are hoping the Portuguese club shift away from their initial insistence that the all up front £39.5million release clause needs to be met.
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While a fresh face in defence is a target for Antonio Conte, he made no secret that his priority for the January transfer window as to bring in an attacking player after the 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa on New Year's Day. Conte claimed it would have been easier for his side to get something from that game if they had forward options from the bench - something they didn't have at the time.
The Italian told reporters: "I’m pleased from what I’ve seen from him today in the game. Then there is (Harry) Kane, Son (Heung-min), Richarlison and (Dejan) Kulusevski. When it happened that two of these (are injured), and this season it happened a few times, with Richarlison and Kulusevski, you are in trouble.
"Also, Sonny has to continue to improve and it becomes difficult this situation. Because if you ask me about the central defenders, they played a good game, the two midfielders played a good game, the wing-backs played a good game. And then we struggled a bit up front because we found a team defending really deep. If you have a solution on the bench to change the game, it’s easier because you change the cards during the game."
Conte is set to get his wish with Danjuma ready to move back to the Premier League and continue his quest in the Champions League, having impressed in the competition last season. Danjuma has scored 22 times in 51 appearances since joining Villarreal and has netted twice in Europe this term.
