An update has emerged on Aston Villa target Arnaut Danjuma, regarding Liverpool’s interest in his services.
What’s the talk?
According to Marca, via the Daily Star, Liverpool are keen on signing Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma before the end of the transfer window.
Aston Villa reportedly enquired about a potential swoop for the attacker earlier this summer, but will now have to beat the Reds in order to bring him to Villa Park.
Watkins 2.0
Dean Smith could land another Ollie Watkins type signing by bringing Danjuma to the club this summer. The ex-Brentford coach has had huge success in bringing talent from the second tier to the Premier League, with Watkins arriving in the Midlands last summer and enjoying a terrific season in the top-flight.
In 37 Premier League starts, the forward provided Villa with 14 goals and five assists whilst averaging a superb WhoScored rating of 7.18. This came after he scored 26 and assisted three in 49 Championship starts (including play-offs) for Brentford the previous year. Smith was able to bring him in and help him flourish at a higher level, which is exactly what he could with Danjuma.
The Bournemouth attacker racked up 17 goals and seven assists in 31 starts in the Championship, averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.21. This means that he came up with a goal contribution every 1.3 starts for the Cherries, compared to Watkins’ goal contribution every 1.7 starts for Brentford.
Clinton Morrison lauded the excellent Dutchman last year when speaking about him on Quest, via Football League World:
“Danjuma is an excellent player. Whatever happens, he will be playing Premier League football next year, whether it’s with Bournemouth or without them. He’s an exceptional talent.”
These comments from Morrison and the aforementioned statistics between Watkins and Danjuma suggest that he could be the next star out of the EFL. He has proven that he has the quality to stand out in the Championship and Smith has already shown that he has the coaching ability to help players like that make the step up to the Premier League, Watkins being the case-in-point.
This is why Villa fans would love to see Danjuma join the club. Supporters love to see goals and the Dutchman’s statistics for Bournemouth suggest that he could be able to provide them for the Villans in the top-flight.
It is now down to Johan Lange to strike a deal with the south coast club and then Smith would need to work with him on the training pitch to turn him into Watkins 2.0.
AND in other news, The Athletic journalist drops update on £50m midfielder, Villa fans will be relieved…
