Bournemouth’s £20m deal could see Everton land Arnaut Danjuma
It’s a story avid supporters of French football have seen play out again and again in Ligue 1. Montpellier won the title against all odds in 2011/12 but, while they might have held off Carlo Ancelotti’s Paris Saint-Germain, they were powerless to stop the vultures from picking the flesh from their bones in the transfer market.
Monaco went the same way; losing Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and more shortly after breaking PSG’s domestic stranglehold in 2017. Perennial overachievers Lens might have retained the services of talismanic captain Seko Fofana but lost Cheick Doucoure, Christopher Wooh, Jonathan Clauss and Loic Bade.
And similar fate could now befall FC Lorient; flying high in sixth, less than 12 months after avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth. There’s been a veritable tsunami of offers for prolific centre-forward Terem Moffi, talkSPORT claiming that West Ham United are edging closer to meeting his £30 million asking price.
Dango Ouattara, meanwhile – the Robin to Moffi’s Batman – is on his way to Bournemouth for a cool £20 million (BBC). The versatile attacker, after notching six goals and six assists during the first half of the season, is set to become the first big-money arrival of bold new era at the Vitality Stadium; Bournemouth’s American owner Bill Foley using his connections at Lorient to help see off competition from a number of rival Premier League clubs.
Will Arnaut Danjuma save Everton from relegation?
After seeing the likes of Wolves and Leeds United break their transfer records this month, the sight of Bournemouth spending £20 million on one of European football’s breakthrough talents will only add to the frustration at Goodison Park, Everton supporters well past breaking point as frustration turns to fury.
Frank Lampard is paying the price for so many years of reckless spending; scrapping for crumbs after Ancelotti and Ronald Koeman gorged themselves on lobster. According to The Times, the under-fire Everton boss has little choice but to prioritise short-term loan deals this month. But while Lampard is undoubtedly operating with one hand tied behind his back, that does not mean serious improvements cannot still be made to an attack which has just 15 goals in 19 Premier League games.
The agent of Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma, The Athletic says, arrived in England over the weekend for talks over a deal that would see the Dutch international join the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Everton or former employers Bournemouth on loan.
Danjuma wants Premier League return
Danjuma scored 16 times in 32 games last season as Villarreal reached the Champions League semi-finals, finding the net against Atalanta, Juventus and Bayern Munich in Europe’s most high-profile club competition. For Everton, going from Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil to Arnaut Danjuma would be like going from a Farmfoods ready meal to a Waitrose brisket.
“Negotiations (to leave Villarreal) are ongoing,” Danjuma’s agent, Michael Moises, tells Cadena Ser.
It is not certain, at this stage, how Bournemouth’s interest in the one-time Cherries talisman is affected by that Ouattara deal. Following some welcome investment, Bournemouth may have sufficient funds to bring in both players. But, given that Ouattara and Danjuma play in largely the same position and perform largely similar roles, it is not out of the question that the signing of one closes the door to the other.
And with Everton’s budget tighter than a pair of Elvis Pressley’s trousers, a short-term loan deal for Danjuma feels like an opportunity the Toffees cannot afford to let pass them by.
