Memphis Depay persuaded Arnaut Danjuma to terminate his Everton loan and vacate Goodison Park.

Memphis Depay persuaded Arnaut Danjuma to terminate his Everton loan and vacate Goodison Park.

According to reports from Foot Mercato on February 24th, Arnaut Danjuma was persuaded to leave Everton for Lyon during the winter transfer window by Memphis Depay, a former Lyon player now at Atletico Madrid.

However, Everton declined the move, despite Depay’s influence, as they were unable to secure a suitable replacement.

The French outlet revealed that Danjuma, who is on loan from Villarreal, was swayed by Depay’s advice, but Everton’s inability to find a replacement led to the deal being blocked.

Everton had been close to signing a replacement before shifting their focus to Lyon’s Irish center-back Jake O’Brien. However, Lyon rejected Everton’s pursuit of Danjuma and instead signed Said Benrahma from West Ham.

Danjuma, 27, has made 20 appearances in all competitions for Everton this season but has only scored two goals. He has missed the last four games due to an injury sustained against

Fulham on January 30th.

Although Danjuma has shown glimpses of his talent under Sean Dyche, his overall impact has been below expectations. Everton’s pursuit of loan deals in January suggested their willingness to let Danjuma leave, unless they could recall Jack Harrison from Leeds.

However, their failure to secure a loan deal meant Danjuma stayed at the club.

Currently, both Everton and Danjuma are not benefiting from the situation, with the Dutch international sidelined due to injury. Everton’s lack of activity in the winter window

left them with limited options to strengthen the squad.

However, they were able to retain key players like Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana amidst interest from other clubs, which recent form suggests would have been a significant blow to Everton.