Chelsea join Newcastle United and AC Milan in race to sign Arnaut Danjuma
As per the Italian outlet CalcioMercatoWeb (h/t Football.London), Chelsea have joined Newcastle United and Serie A champions AC Milan in the race to sign Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma.
Danjuma, who was at Bournemouth playing in the Championship before arriving at Villarreal in 2021, had an excellent first season with the Yellow Submarine.
He scored 16 goals and assisted four in 34 appearances in the league and the Champions League. He was one of the key players in helping Unai Emery’s men reach the semi-final of last season’s Champions League, beating German champions Bayern Munich along the way and coming very close to doing that against Liverpool.
Positionally, the Dutch international can play anywhere across the forward line, but he is most comfortable either operating on the left wing or as a number nine – as a lone striker or in a two-man front line.
After the departure of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the summer deadline day to fill up the vacant number nine slot. However, the former Arsenal striker is 33 now and is not a long-term solution for that position. Hence, manager Graham Potter would be looking to make additions to that department.
Moreover, with the future of Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech uncertain at the club, there could be a slot to fill in the wide attacking areas as well. Signing Danjuma could fill up two positions with great quality.
With the flexibility and quality he can offer, it would not be a bad idea for the Blues to make an offer for him. It was revealed in the summer that a sum of around £31m would lure Villarreal to sell the 25-year-old. Arsenal and West ham United were in the race at the time.
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Perhaps first-team minutes may be a factor that the former Bournemouth man takes into consideration. Whether Potter can fit him into his team straightaway is another question – granted we do sign him in the future.