Tottenham Hotspur could be looking to replace Lucas Moura with a big upgrade this summer, if recent reports are to be believed.
According to 90min, the north London outfit had scouts in attendance for Villarreal’s two-legged Champions League semi-final clash with Liverpool. It’s thought that they were taking a closer look at centre-back Pau Torres and winger Arnaut Danjuma.
The Yellow Submarines were defeated 5-2 on aggregate with the former featuring in both fixtures, and the latter only playing the first leg, missing the second through injury.
After leaving Championship side AFC Bournemouth for Unai Emery’s side in a €25m (£21.4m) deal the summer, the six-time Netherlands international has enjoyed a standout campaign across both domestic and European competitions.
As per Transfermarkt, the 25-year-old has delivered a whopping 16 goals and four assists, which included goals as a centre-forward against Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Granada, where he bagged a hat-trick.
Danjuma has been one of Villarreal’s best-performing and most consistent stars, ranking fifth (LaLiga) and second (UCL) overall for average rating, whilst no player has found the net more times.
Currently valued at £45m, the enigmatic dynamo wouldn’t come cheap but he’d be a massive upgrade on the out-of-sorts Moura, that’s for sure.
The Brazilian winger has been usurped by Dejan Kulusevski in the pecking order under Antonio Conte, hardly a surprise given his poor returns of two goals and five assists in 31 league appearances.
Danjuma outranks the long-serving Spurs star in pretty much every attacking metric, as per FBRef.
In terms of shooting output, the Yellow Submarines sensation is managing 1.26 shots on target per 90, in comparison to Moura’s 0.83, whilst for expected goals and assists (excluding penalty kicks) sees the former Cherries man sit on 0.57 per 90, compared to the 0.35 put up by the Spurs ace.
Danjuma also manages 1.88 carries into the 18-yard box, way clear of Moura’s 0.84, on top of attempting more dribbles and receiving more progressive passes in the final third, also via FBRef.
Lauded as an “exceptional talent” by EFL pundit Clinton Morrison and “unbelievable” by former manager Jonathan Woodgate, it’s evident that Conte could secure a major upgrade on Moura with a swoop to bring Danjuma back to England.
Fabio Paratici and co must look to get this done during the off-season.
AND in other news, Paratici bargain: Spurs plot bid for “extraordinary” £45m titan, imagine him & Romero…
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