The summer signing would love to do well at Everton – but his targets revolve around the team’s wider progress
Everton may be a side in need of heroes but Arnaut Danjuma’s main target is to help his teammates shine.
The attacker wants to become a key component within Sean Dyche’s Everton project this season and would love to have a big impact on the Goodison Park crowd – just like his friend Richarlison did for so long.
Yet the 26-year-old is aware his former teammate’s status as a Blues hero can only be bestowed upon him by the fans and his aim is to work hard for the squad. If he becomes a favourite of the supporters in doing
so it will be a bonus, he said.
The winger could soon get his first opportunity to make a difference from the beginning of a match, with Dyche set to consider him for a first start when Everton travel to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Danjuma is well aware of the recent plight of his new club. He came within a few pieces of paperwork of joining Everton amid the chaotic January in which Frank Lampard, whose presence had been part of the
appeal of a loan switch from Spanish side Villarreal, was sacked. The departure of Lampard created uncertainty about the move that allowed Tottenham Hotspur to swoop in the month’s most dramatic transfer
storyline. Had Lampard remained Everton boss for a few more days, Danjuma would likely have been on the frontline of the club’s second consecutive relegation battle.
He instead spent the following months struggling to get a game at Spurs and his mind would often turn to the advanced talks he had with Everton, typically prompted by Richarlison’s cheeky taunts about how he
had let down the Brazil star’s former team. No resentment simmered between player or club though, paving the way for the move to become a reality this summer.
Danjuma turned down Champions League football to play for the Blues with discussions with Dyche, who had not been given the Everton job when the January move broke down, pivotal to his decision. It is clear
he was able to sell Danjuma a vision the Netherlands international could buy into.
Speaking at Finch Farm before the season started, he said: “I think the past two seasons have been tough but upon speaking to Sean Dyche, speaking to the players, meeting the players and getting to know the
culture of the club I think this will be more of a season of stepping away from the past two seasons rather than being in a relegation battle again because I think Everton is a much bigger club than to fight
relegation.”
There is no complacency that such an improvement will come without hard work, however. Danjuma is alive to that reality and determined to play a role. He said: “I think my part is to be here, to try and bring new
life and hopefully bring some quality and some goals to the group, play with the players that are already here because I have not been here the past two seasons but just training with the players and speaking with
the manager, there are a lot of good players here, there is a lot of quality here, international players, so it shouldn’t be that hard for Everton to get back to where they want to be. I think, just for me, I hope to be
part of that project, to bring quality to the squad, to bring positivity.”
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