FPL new transfers: Who is Arnaut Danjuma?

Tottenham Hotspur have added to their attacking options with the signing of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal until the end of the season.

As part of the deal, Spurs have an option to buy the former Bournemouth winger.

Danjuma has scored 22 goals in 51 appearances for Villarreal since his move in 2021, but is he worthy of Fantasy interest? We’ll assess his appeal in this Scout Report piece.

DANJUMA’S HISTORY

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Danjuma moved to the Netherlands at a young age, before he began his senior career with NEC Nijmegen.

After scoring 14 goals in 46 appearances over two seasons, he joined Belgian side Club Brugge, where he mostly played as a wing-back in a 3-5-2, swiftly helping them lift the Belgian Super Cup and going on to score six goals in 25 games for them.

“He’s a player who can make something happen. You weren’t always sure when and how but he had that match-winning ability, which you felt pretty quickly in training.” – Edward Still, former Club Brugge assistant manager

Danjuma then spent two seasons at Bournemouth. He started a meagre six Premier League games during the Cherries’ failed battle against relegation in 2019/20, but propelled them to play-off qualification a year later, with the Dutchman finishing the campaign as Bournemouth’s top scorer with 17 league goals.

Playing on the left of a front three, with Dominic Solanke (£5.6m) central and David Brooks (£5.3m) on the right, Danjuma was outstanding, and his displays earned him a €23.5m move to Villarreal. He maintained that form in Spain with 16 goals and four assists in 2021/22, including six goals in the Champions League as the Yellow Submarines reached the semi-finals.

Under Unai Emery, he thrived as a left-sided striker in a 4-4-2, but this season has been a different story. He started the campaign on the sidelines with muscular problems and didn’t see eye to eye with Emery’s successor, Quique Setien. He arrives at Spurs having started just 10 games in all competitions in 2022/23.

On the international stage, Danjuma has been capped six times by the Netherlands, scoring twice, but was left out of Louis van Gaal’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

IN QUOTES

“I’m delighted to be here. Obviously, this opportunity is very important to me. I’m just really happy to be here. To be honest with you, as soon as Tottenham Hotspur came through, it was a no brainer. It is a massive club with a brilliant coach, brilliant staff and the facilities are obviously unbelievable. So, for me, I’m very, very excited to be part of the team. I hope to be positive, hope to leave a good impact, hope to be able to prove my qualities as a player, hope to give something new and something enthusiastic for the fans. And obviously aim for the highest possible in every competition we are competing in.

I’m very excited [to be back]. It is no debate that the Premier League is the best league in the world hence why, for me, I’m very excited to be here, especially at such a great club. It just gives me the opportunity to perform on a high platform and do what I love the most. If I look back on my career already, I think there are quite a few times where I didn’t really need to adapt to the culture of the club, especially [as] coming to England for me is like coming home. I speak the language, I’m very used to the culture, I’m familiar with the people so I’m hoping I don’t need too much to adapt. And I’ll do my best to make sure I integrate into the team as quickly as possible.” – Arnaut Danjuma

“He has experience because he’s played good Champions League last season. He can play like a striker or a winger. A lot of positions he can cover. We are looking forward to working with him. It’s normal in January to have to give him all the information to play in our team. We are happy to have him.” – Cristian Stellini, Tottenham Hotspur’s assistant manager

“It depends on the system we use, right now as a number 10 or the striker. This is the way we want to work with him.” – Cristian Stellini, Tottenham Hotspur’s assistant manager

DANJUMA’S PLAYING STYLE

“I saw right-backs falling over because they did not know what to do anymore. His dribbling technique is phenomenal. That boy has so much potential.” – NEC Nijmegen technical director Remco Oversier

Danjuma is an explosive right-footed winger who mainly operates on the left but can also play centrally and on the right of the frontline.

He is quick, offers a threat in behind and is also an excellent dribbler.

“That I am unpredictable. If you can dribble, pass, shoot, play one-twos and move into spaces, the opponents won’t know what to attend to. The question is to sharpen your tools and [then] recognise what the game needs.” – Arnaut Danjuma in an interview with El Pais, when asked what his greatest value as a player is

Under Emery at Villarreal, he performed a kind of hybrid left winger/striker role, a bit like the one we see Leon Bailey (£4.5m) in now at Aston Villa.

“At the club [Villarreal] we have an analyst for attackers, Antonio Rodríguez, and we spend half an hour every day to go over matches. I try to have sensations, to know where to move in every situation, depending on if the ball is with the right back, the left back or a midfielder… if I know what my teammate is going to do, I’ll be ahead of my marker, because he doesn’t know. I try to win games before I play them.” – Arnaut Danjuma in an interview with El Pais

Looking specifically at his attacking numbers, we can see he is a high-volume dribbler, while his non-penalty expected goal (xG) rate of 10.1 in 2021/22 put him among the biggest goal threats in La Liga.

FPL PROSPECTS

Danjuma’s arrival in north London will boost Antonio Conte’s attacking options, which already include Harry Kane (£11.7m), Son Heung-min (£11.6m), Richarlison (£8.4m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£7.9m), plus fringe players like Lucas Moura (£5.8m) and Bryan Gil (£5.0m).

He’s played most of his career either on the left or in a more central role, which is similar to the one currently performed by Son.

However, given the South Korean’s lack of form/goals in 2022/23, the increased competition can only be a good thing for a Spurs squad competing on three fronts (Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League).

As a result, we could see Danjuma potentially eating into Son’s minutes, and vice versa, making neither player particularly attractive in FPL.

Danjuma will add a new dynamic in wide areas for Spurs, and if they can add wing-back Pedro Porro from Sporting Lisbon too, it has the potential to shake up an attack that has struggled to create since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup.

Now, Danjuma will hope to feature in the FA Cup fourth-round tie with Preston North End this weekend, which precedes Spurs’ Gameweek 22 home clash with champions Manchester City.

Having had previous experience playing in England, it’s likely that he will fit right in and will require very little time to adapt to life in north London.

For now, Danjuma is a definite ‘wait and see’, but if Spurs get the player that lit up the Champions League in 2021/22, he could become potentially become an option further down the line.

He is yet to be added to FPL, but a £6.5m price tag and midfielder classification would hand him the platform to make an impact later in the season. However, he’ll have to force his way past Son or Kulusevski first.