Tottenham’s director of football Fabio Paratici has lifted the lid on why the London club hijacked Everton’s January transfer of Dutch international Anaut Danjuma.
The 25-year-old forward looked set to join the Toffees after a loan deal was agreed with Danjuma’s parent club Villarreal, only for the move to fall through at the eleventh hour.
Indeed, the attacker is believed to have completed his medical on Merseyside ahead of his move to Goodison Park, with Everton reportedly confident that they had secured their first signing of the window.
However, in a dramatic twist, a late move from Antonio Conte’s side tempted the attacker to London, and shortly after it was confirmed that Everton had missed out, with Spurs announcing that they had signed the player on loan until the end of the season.
With the transfer window now closed, Spurs’ director of football Fabio Paratici has revealed why he made a late approach for Danjuma, and confirmed that Conte’s side have an option to make the move permanent at the end of the current campaign.
Paratici said, “He is a player that for two or three years, in every transfer window, he was near to joining some big clubs and even in the last summer Villarreal rejected a big offer for him and when we got the opportunity to sign him, we took this opportunity.
“It’s not about that because we believe in the player, we know the player so we are happy more for him because it’s a good debut and it’s a good injection of confidence.
I think this is the most important thing.
“We have the option to buy and so we will see what happens in the next five months.”
When Everton welcome Spurs to Goodison Park in April, no doubt Danjuma will be greeted with a fairly hostile reception following his late snub.