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Topics: Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Transfers, Premier League
Ryan Sidle
Arnaut Danjuma is set to sign for Tottenham Hotspur, after Antonio Conte's side hijacked a move from Everton for the Villarreal forward at the last minute.
Despite Frank Lampard's sacking on Monday evening, following the weekend's loss to fellow relegation strugglers West Ham United, there looked to be some good news for Everton.
It looked like they would be signing Danjuma on loan until the end of the season, to boost the Premier League's second worst scorers attacking options.
The former Bournemouth man had been in the country to sort his move, and had even undergone a medical with the Toffees, with confirmation of the move approaching.
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However, fresh from beating Fulham on Monday night, Antonio Conte has pulled off a transfer coup by stealing the deal from under the noses of Everton.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Merseysiders were so close to getting him to come to Goodison Park that he'd already done the media for the announcement.
Spurs reached out to Villarreal at the last minute to make a move for him and communication between the player and Everton suddenly went quiet.
He is now reportedly on his way to north London to complete a medical with Spurs, which he better hope he passes because the backtrack would be ridiculous.
According to another report, Danjuma's side even refused to send the agreement for his move to Everton to the FA, as Spurs came in for him.
Lampard had been one of the main factors for why the former Bournemouth player had chosen to go to Merseyside, until the former Chelsea midfielder was sacked.
The 25-year-old had also been defiant in his belief that he could keep the side currently in the relegation zone in England's top tier, but they're likely to struggle to stay up without him.
He moved to England from Club Brugge in 2019, spending one season in the Premier League before Bournemouth got relegated, staying with the Cherries in the Championship and scoring 15 times in 33 games.
Villarreal signed him off the back of that season and he was included in UEFA's Champions League team of the season, after the Spanish side reached the semi-finals, beating Juventus and Bayern Munich on the way.
The scenes are reminiscent of the time that the north London club were themselves gazumped for the signing of Willian, by local rivals Chelsea.
At the time the Brazilian looked to be heading to Spurs but ended up at Stamford Bridge, with Jose Mourinho jibing, "That's the danger of medicals before contracts.
"But at the same time if you do the contract then the medical after, sometimes you can have a problem by signing a player with problems. So you have to do the medical before, but the best thing to do is to do the medical in secret."
This move may have been a knockon hijacking, after Chelsea stole Mykhailo Mudryk from under the noses of Arsenal, and the Gunners may have taken Leandro Trossard from Spurs.