West Ham United’s pursuit of Arnaut Danjuma has been dealt a hammer blow after his representatives reportedly ruled out a move to the London Stadium.
According to a report from Spanish publication AS, despite having plenty of top-level suitors in the market, Arnaut Danjuma is content to stay at Villarreal this summer, seeking stability ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And his representatives have ruled out a move to West Ham United.
David Moyes is looking for quality attacking reinforcements in the market as Said Benrahma could potentially leave the club. The absence of a backup striker for the 32-year-old injury-prone Michail Antonio also hurts. Not to mention, they will have to compete on all fronts, having qualified for the UEFA Europe Conference League after securing a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League.
As such, the Hammers have taken a keen interest in Danjuma, who had an excellent 2021/22 campaign with the Yellow Submarine, netting ten La Liga goals and six in the UEFA Champions League and playing a major role in Villarreal’s surprise run to the semi-finals.
The Dutch international has had a unique career trajectory thus far, underperforming in the Premier League with Bournemouth but impressing in the Championship—when he scored 15 goals in 33 appearances—earning him a €25 million move to Villarreal last summer.
His stellar attacking performances have attracted plenty of suitors looking to bring him back to English shores, with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, and Newcastle all credited with an interest. But it was West Ham who emerged as front-runner to sign the player with Fabrizio Romano affirming the advanced talks were held between the two clubs.
However, this rumour has faded out in the last week or so, with reports claiming that Moyes has pushed the West Ham board to drop their interest in the Dutch forward and instead focus on the free-agent signing of another target, Jesse Lingard. But according to AS, it seems the other way around, with the Netherlands international content with his current situation and having no plans to leave Villarreal this summer ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
While West Ham have yet to reach an agreement with the player’s parent club, they may have to play the waiting game in order to land Danjuma, who is more than happy to remain a prominent member of Unai Emery’s side and is also prepared to wait until January to secure a Premier League move.
The 25-year-old is under contract at Villarreal until 2026, so the Spanish club are under no pressure to sell their prized asset. Danjuma possesses a lot of pace and power, and if West Ham could have succeeded in getting him, it would have been a huge coup.
He also has Premier League and Champions League experience, as well as the versatility to play anywhere on the frontline. Nevertheless, West Ham will now have to realign their radars elsewhere with Lingard and Armando Broja high on Moyes’s wishlist.
