When a club is linked with signing a player from overseas, we all know how the saga is likely to unfold.
The media in his country will report that the interested team are preparing their bid, then a pundit will offer their approval of the potential deal.
Once the all-important release clause is revealed, the move is surely in the works, right?
Wrong. Or at least wrong in terms of how Liverpool frequently operate, with the Reds preferring to keep their interest low profile for as long as possible, ideally until they can announce a deal is done.
Nonetheless, whether their reported interest in Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma is genuine or not – and the early arrival of Luis Diaz may have changed things there – it’s clear to see why Liverpool may covet the 25-year-old.
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The Netherlands international, who has earned four of his five caps while playing alongside Virgil van Dijk, has recently returned from a two-month injury layoff in quite some style.
Danjuma scored the seventh hat-trick seen in La Liga this season when he netted three times in a 4-1 win at Granada on Saturday.
As his final appearance prior to injury saw him score twice in an away victory over Atalanta, and he also assisted goals against Barcelona and Norway shortly before that, Danjuma has seven goal involvements across his last seven starts.
Having recently spoken of the goosebumps he gets when he hears the Champions League theme music before a match, it’s just as well for Danjuma that he has the quality required to play at that level for years to come.
Villarreal welcomed Juventus to Spain on Tuesday night, and though Danjuma was unable to score, he showed his skills with a backheeled shot on target.
Unai Emery's side are in the last 16 thanks in no small part to the four goals their number 15 bagged in the group stage.
There were aspects to some of his European goals which suggest that Danjuma could fit in well at Anfield too.
For his opener against Atalanta, he carried the ball half the length of the pitch for a counter attack and coolly slotted the ball through goalkeeper Juan Musso’s legs.
Danjuma’s goal in the 2-0 win over Young Boys could have easily had Jurgen Klopp’s fingerprints all over it too.
Etienne Capoue pressed and won the ball in the attacking third, with the reported Reds target then the grateful recipient of his hard work.
While these goals hint at a potential Liverpool player, so do his statistics, and in significant fashion too.
Per Statsbomb’s data on FBRef, the attacking midfielder or winger to whom he is most statistically similar is Mohamed Salah, with Sadio Mane sixth on his list for good measure.
As the quartet in between the Reds’ duo includes Kylian Mbappe and Raheem Sterling, it’s safe to say we’re looking at a talented player here.
Although his creativity needs a little work – he only has two league assists this season and is fortunate to have them according to the underlying numbers – there’s no doubting his ability to get onto the end of attacking moves.
Danjuma is among the top three percent of his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues for non-penalty goals (actual and expected), shots, shots on target and touches in the opposition box on a pro-rata basis.
Perhaps most impressive of all is his ability to dribble the ball into the penalty area, which he has done 2.75 times per 90 minutes in league football this season.
Among all big-league players who’ve had at least as much time on the pitch, only Jack Grealish (4.26) and Vinicius Junior (3.35) have carried the ball into the box more frequently.
As this is an area in which Diaz has started his Liverpool career well – with six penalty area carries in his two league appearances – it’s reasonable to ponder if Danjuma was lined up as an alternate option if Liverpool had been unable to complete a deal with Porto for the Colombian.
But as they did, it may be that the former Bournemouth forward’s future now lies elsewhere. The saga continues.
