Tottenham Hotspur left Everton ‘furious’ after Spurs hijacked the Toffees’ loan transfer for Villarreal star Arnaut Danjuma. The forward had initially agreed to move to Goodison Park.
That is according to the Evening Standard, which reports Tottenham enraged Everton after stealing Danjuma’s transfer from Villarreal. Spurs swooped at the 11th hour and convinced the Dutchman to head to north London. Everything was set for him to land on Merseyside.
Everton put Danjuma through a medical with the club over the weekend before he carried out in-house media duties. But as interest at Tottenham began to increase, the 25-year-old refused to send his registration on to The FA. He was set to train at Finch Farm on Tuesday.
Yet rather than train at the managerless Everton, Danjuma travelled to London whilst talks between Villarreal and Tottenham gathered pace. Spurs also put the six-cap star through a medical on Tuesday before finalising the transfer. He joined on loan with an option to buy.
Danjuma now fills Lucas Moura’s void in Antonio Conte’s squad at Spurs with the Brazilian out with a tendon injury. Tottenham are also willing to let the forward leave north London in the final days of the window. The 30-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season.
Danjuma snubbed Everton after Tottenham hijacked his transfer from Villarreal
It remains unclear if Everton sacking Frank Lampard on Monday played a role in Danjuma’s decision to favour his transfer from Villarreal to Tottenham. Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri fired the 44-year-old after a 2-0 defeat at West Ham United with the club 19th in the table.
Everton have won a league-low three games from their 20 fixtures played so far. They also have only scored 15 goals, with Wolves the only top-flight team to net fewer with 12. Plus, only Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray (3) and Dwight McNeil (2) have struck more than two.
Danjuma would have strengthened the squad available to whoever replaces Lampard. But he will, instead, strengthen Conte’s bench as competition for Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison, who has only started five league games since his arrival.
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