What to expect from Arnaut Danjuma at Tottenham

Danjuma made the dream debut
Danjuma made the dream debut / Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
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Arnaut Danjuma has returned to England, joining Tottenham from Villarreal on an initial six-month loan that could become permanent.

It's not his first time playing in the country, with him joining Bournemouth from Club Brugge the year they got relegated, although he failed to make his mark in the Premier League on that occasion.

Given that, you may not know a huge amount about him despite the success that he enjoyed in the Championship and La Liga afterwards.

If that's the case, look no further - here's all you need to know about Spurs' new number 16.

Arnaut Danjuma's career path

Danjuma signed for PSV in 2008 at the age of 11 but failed to impress the Dutch giants and joined NEC Nijmegen in the summer of 2016 without making a first-team appearance for his first senior club.

He did enough in two seasons there to convince Club Brugge to take on a chance on him in 2018 and it proved to be a good call on their part. He quickly became one of the best players in Belgium and earned his first Netherlands call-up in the process.

After a year in the Pro League, he was on the move again with Bournemouth paying £14m for his services. He struggled to justify that price tag in his first campaign there, though, getting no goals in 15 appearances as they were relegated to the Championship.

In England's second division though, he started to show what he could do again, getting 15 goals and seven assists to fire his team into the play-offs, where they lost to Brentford despite him scoring twice.

He caught the eye of a number of major clubs that season and joined Villarreal in the summer for around €25 million. The Dutchman excelled in his first year in Spain but injuries and managerial changes saw him fall out of favour in his second.

As a result, he was keen to leave at the start of 2023 and ultimately signed for Spurs after initially agreeing to join Everton.

Arnaut Danjuma's goalscoring record

Danjuma's a speedy winger full of tricks, but unlike many that fit that description, he has an excellent end product too.

Whichever country he's played in, the 25-year-old has been extremely productive, scoring and creating a number of goals.

With the exception of Club Brugge, he's averaged a minimum of around 0.5 direct goal contributions per game at every club he's been at.

  • NEC Nijmegen: 14 goals and 17 assists in 46 games
  • Club Brugge: 6 goals and 4 assists in 25 games
  • Bournemouth: 17 goals and 8 assists in 52 games
  • Villarreal: 22 goals and 4 assists in 51 games

Arnaut Danjuma's style of play

Danjuma has spent the vast majority of his senior career playing as a left winger, being deployed there on 92 occasions.

He likes to take on players directly and, being right-footed, often cut inside before sending in a shot or cross.

His left foot isn't half bad either though, meaning he's comfortably staying wide and getting in a cross from the byline too.

At Villarreal, Unai Emery often used him as the left-sided striker in a 4-4-2, and he's generally done well playing up front, getting 17 goals in 34 games.

He can also play as an out-and-out winger on the right but hasn't done so often.