The Athletic have revealed that Tottenham Hotspur tried in vain to sign Arnaut Danjuma from Villarreal last summer as part of Giovani Lo Celso’s switch to the La Liga club.
The way Spurs hijacked Everton’s move for Danjuma a couple of days ago hit the headlines, with the North London club swooping to sign the 25-year-old on loan after he had completed a medical at Goodison Park and just before he was about to sign on the dotted line with the Toffees (The Sun).
Reports indicated that the Merseyside club were ‘furious’ at the fact that they had failed to get a deal for the Netherlands international over the line (Fabrizio Romano).
The manner in which Spurs got the deal done might suggest that Danjuma was an afterthought for Antonio Conte’s men rather than one of their top targets, but that was not the case, according to The Athletic.
The publication claims that Tottenham had been scouting the Dutchman over the ‘long-term’ and even sought to get him last summer as part of Lo Celso’s loan move to Villarreal.
The report states that Spurs ‘sniffed an opportunity’ to swoop for Danjuma after Everton sacked Frank Lampard and made a swift move to snap up the forward.
Spurs Web Opinion
Danjuma might have not been Tottenham’s top attacking target but the club would not have moved for the 25-year-old if Conte had not given the green light to do so. I suspect Spurs made the move for the Dutchman out of the fear that Nicolo Zaniolo would reject their advances in favour of a switch to AC Milan.
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