“Second time lucky,” wrote Arnaut Danjuma on Sunday after completing his loan move from Villarreal to Everton.
The Netherlands international had almost been here six months earlier.
On that occasion, he had successfully undergone a medical at Everton and agreed personal terms, only to eventually plump for a move to Tottenham at the eleventh hour.
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Danjuma had been so close to joining the Merseyside outfit that he had been at their Finch Farm training ground on the day of the 2-0 defeat to West Ham and was handed club kit for gym work while they waited for his paperwork to be processed in Spain. When that did not arrive promptly — it is not unusual for offices in Spain to close completely over the weekend — he was allowed to travel back to London with a view to returning on the following Monday to complete the final details of the move.
But then came Spurs and, for Everton, an untimely about-turn.
If there was an element of deja vu as the formalities edged towards a conclusion six months on, then his new club will be grateful there was no sting in the tail to endure this time round. After passing a medical on Saturday, Danjuma was finally announced as an Everton player over the weekend.
In different circumstances, the events of January might have permanently soured relationships.
As it is, with funds tight, Everton have taken a pragmatic stance and believe they have secured one of the best loans on the market.
There were offers from AC Milan and Feyenoord this summer, both seriously considered by the player and his representatives, but Danjuma felt he had unfinished business in England.
Of those interested parties outside the Premier League’s top six, Everton always held the advantage. Despite the initial frustration at being jilted at the altar, there was an acceptance at the Everton end that the turmoil around the club in January had played a part in Danjuma’s change of heart.
Frank Lampard had been a key figure in talks, but the uncertainty over his future was clear even on the day of the ex-Bournemouth player’s trip to Finch Farm. Even as he watched on from Merseyside, owner Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright had refused to be drawn on Lampard’s future when prompted by TV reporters.
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Danjuma and his representatives pressed the club for an answer on whether Lampard would be sacked and initially felt the winger would have time to work with the head coach for at least a few games. In the end, however, they decided not to take a chance on instability.
The move to Tottenham suited nobody.
Regret came early into the switch, with the Netherlands international finding himself behind Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Richarlison and others in the pecking order in north London.
Somewhat surprisingly, dialogue between the Everton recruitment team and Danjuma’s camp resumed soon after the window had closed. Light-hearted at first, it quickly became a more serious “wait and see what happens this summer”. Everton needed to secure their Premier League future first and Danjuma had to assess what was next, but it was then where the initial seed for the current season-long loan agreement was planted.
When Everton’s survival was confirmed, talks stepped up again.
The groundwork put in by Everton in January, led by director of football Kevin Thelwell and head of recruitment Dan Purdy, finally paid off. There was still a mutual respect and affinity for the work done over the winter, as well as the way Danjuma had been treated by player care liaison Amy Lewtas.
Talks with Sean Dyche also went well, with the new Everton manager having received a positive testimony from former Watford striker Troy Deeney when Danjuma’s camp did their own due diligence. Everton were the preference over other frontrunners Milan and Feyenoord, with Danjuma also impressed by the passion of the Goodison Park crowd in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham in April.
Everton will pay a loan fee for the 26-year-old’s services, believed to be around €3million (£2.6m; $3.3m), and pick up his full Villarreal wage packet. There is no option or obligation to buy, but a chance that situation could be explored again at the end of the season if the loan goes well.
Danjuma bolsters an ailing attack that scored the second-fewest number of goals in the league last season.
Although he excelled in a wide left role for Bournemouth in 2020-21, registering 17 goals and eight assists in the Championship and earning south coast club’s Player of the Year award, Everton’s recruitment team also noted his positional versatility and ability to play across the forward line.
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Under Unai Emery at Villarreal, Danjuma played on the left of a central two, a role he could well reprise during the coming season at Goodison. Early suggestions this summer are that Sean Dyche could well deploy a 4-3-3 that becomes 4-4-2 out of possession this term, with Danjuma capable of operating either just off Dominic Calvert-Lewin or in a wide position.
Boasting a stocky frame, pace and a fierce shot, Danjuma’s game lends itself to transitions and cutting inside from the left channel.
“Beating players and dribbling is one of the main components,” he told The Athletic last year.
“I’ve played 4-3-3 as a left-winger. I succeeded with Emery in a 4-4-2 system where we played with two strikers and I was on the left side. We played 4-3-3 where I was the striker myself as well.
“So it’s not only beating players and running past them on one particular side of the pitch — it’s all over the pitch, either in the front three or a front two.”
Danjuma has the potential to be a game-changer.
Upon his arrival at Villarreal in 2021, he was called a “Rolex player” by the club’s vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza. The comparison to the luxury watch brand appears apt; at his best, he has the tools to trouble most defences, scoring six times in 11 Champions League games in his first season for Villarreal. There was a double against Atalanta, followed by a last-16 goal against Juventus and another strike against Bayern in the quarter-final.
Here is his smarterscout pizza chart for that season at Villarreal:
In 2021-22, he averaged 3.6 shots per 90, second only to Karim Benzema of players with over 900 minutes played. Only Ousmane Dembele, Vinicius Jr and Samuel Chukwueze averaged more than his 3.2 carries into the penalty area per game.
Danjuma also ranked highly in both xG from shot creation and ball progression, showing how dangerous he was throughout that season.
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He does not get hugely involved in link-up play — he averaged just 8.0 touches per game in the middle third in 2021-22, in the bottom one per cent of La Liga forwards that season — and he is not hugely tenacious in the press. But smarterscout’s score of 77 for defending impact suggests that he was effective at blocking the opposition’s progress when he applied himself.
That campaign was clearly the high point in Danjuma’s career to date, and he has struggled to replicate those levels consistently since.
He finished 2021-22 with a muscular problem that prematurely curtailed his season and was still on the sidelines for the start of the following campaign. On his return to fitness, he reportedly did not see eye-to-eye with Emery’s successor, Quique Setien. It is also safe to say the loan move to Tottenham did not work out as planned.
It is perhaps for those reasons that a player capable of magic moments and regular goals has, for now, dropped off the radar of top clubs.
But one thing Danjuma cannot be accused of lacking is self-belief and determination. This is a man who had an unimaginably tough start to life — at the age of four, his parents divorced and he was briefly homeless before he, his brother Leiner and his sister Lissette were put into foster care. His tough upbringing and his religion (Danjuma is Muslim and says this makes him a stronger person) have shaped his inner drive.
“Where I came from made me the person I am today,” he told The Athletic in 2021. “There are certain things you can’t replicate. My upbringing might have been tougher than anyone else’s, but I’m always grateful and never satisfied. I always try to achieve more because of my past.”
That hunger and drive remains and may well work to Everton’s advantage.
Six months after his aborted move, Danjuma has been handed a second chance. He is ready to make up for lost time.
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(Top photo: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)