Tottenham confirm Arnaut Danjuma signing

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the signing of Villarreal attacker Arnaut Danjuma on loan until the end of the season.

The 25-year-old becomes the Lilywhites' first acquisition of the winter transfer window after Spurs successfully hijacked Everton's bid to bring him to Goodison Park.

Villarreal have also confirmed that Tottenham possess the option to sign Danjuma permanently this summer, and he returns to England one and a half years after leaving Bournemouth for La Liga.

The arrival of the Netherlands international caused a stir after Everton looked to have won the race for his services, having agreed terms with the attacker over a switch to Merseyside.

Danjuma is even believed to have completed his medical with the Toffees and completed pre-announcement media duties, but the sacking of Frank Lampard on Monday evening led to a sudden change of heart.

As a result, the Dutchman supposedly refused to send off his signed Everton contract to the FA and drove to London after learning of Tottenham's interest, leaving the Toffees infuriated.

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Danjuma arrives in North London to compete with Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min and Bryan Gil for starts in the wide areas, although his arrival could pave the way for the latter to depart on loan this month.

The former PSV Eindhoven youngster starred in Villarreal's run to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, scoring six goals in 11 European matches under ex-Arsenal boss Unai Emery.

Danjuma ended the 2021-22 campaign with an impressive 16 goals and four assists from 34 games in all tournaments, but he struggled to replicate such form in the first half of the 2022-23 season, scoring just six goals in 17 games.

Two of those six goals came in one La Liga contest against Osasuna on October 17 - the only Spanish top-flight game that Danjuma has scored in this season - and he previously represented Bournemouth between 2019 and 2021 after leaving Club Brugge.

Danjuma came up with 17 goals and eight assists in 52 matches for the Cherries, but he failed to score or set up a goal in any of his 14 Premier League appearances in the 2019-20 season, as Bournemouth suffered relegation from the top flight.

The six-cap Netherlands international, who was not called up to Louis van Gaal's squad for the 2022 World Cup, could make his debut for Spurs in Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Preston North End.