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Arnaut Danjuma demands assurances West Ham United boss David Moyes won't replace Frank Lampard at Everton
Arnaut Danjuma wanted assurances from Everton that West Ham boss David Moyes would not replace Frank Lampard before he completed his loan move, Alex Crook reports.
The talkSPORT reporter reluctantly revealed the name of the Hammers manager when providing an update on the Villarreal winger’s deal to join the Toffees, after the 25-year-old’s potential move to the London Stadium was blocked in the summer.
Lampard was sacked on Monday (23 January), less than 48 hours after losing 2-0 to a Jarrod Bowen double in the capital, and Moyes has been linked to a return to his former job by BBC football writer Phil McNulty speaking to BBC Merseyside on 9 January, but Danjuma wanted to be sure he wouldn’t end up playing for him.
Speaking to Jim White and Simon Jordan live on talkSPORT on Monday (23 January) Crook said of Danjuma’s move to Goodison Park: “It still hasn’t been formally confirmed by Everton yet. I was also told that Danjuma was seeking assurances, not necessarily that Frank Lampard would be the manager, but he had a particular manager that he didn’t want to come in and replace Lampard. He certainly wanted assurances that that wasn’t happening.”
Pressed by White and Jordan as to who that manager was he was cagey, saying: “I can’t divulge his name…”
“Well what did you mention it for then?” Jordan cut in, before White tried to squeeze the name out of Crook.
He said: “You know the first rule of journalism Jim, always protect your sources.”
Finally, after Jordan said he wanted the name of the manager not the source Crook conceded: “Let’s just say that it was David Moyes who blocked Danjuma’s move to West Ham in the summer, so that might give you a clue.”
Small world
The crossover between West Ham and Everton in both Lampard’s sacking and Danjuma’s arrival at Goodison Park is huge.
The Netherlands international came close to an Irons move in the summer but Moyes changed his mind on whether he was the man to push Michail Antonio [Claret&Hugh, 3 July] and the deal subsequently broke down, and now a clash between the two under-fire bosses, who both have history at the other club, has seen one fired.
It would have made little sense for Danjuma to sign on for the relegation battle on Merseyside if a manager who had proven he didn’t rate him just months earlier was incoming.
But with Moyes having got a crucial three points at the weekend his position appears to have temporarily been boosted, in stark contrast to Lampard who is now out of a job.
The Irons manager will need to follow that victory up with plenty more to stay in charge for the rest of the season, with the result only just pulling West Ham out of the relegation zone.
But it appears there is little danger of him returning to the dug out at Goodison now, at least for the rest of this campaign, and even less chance of working with Danjuma during the rest of their careers.