AFC Bournemouth
From Benfica to Brentford, Arnaut Danjuma hopes there will be one final stop on AFC Bournemouth’s journey from Lisbon to London.
Danjuma has played at the top level in England, Holland and Belgium together with scoring in the Champions League and on his full debut for his country.
The 24-year-old led from the front as the Cherries booked a place in the Championship play-offs, his valuable contribution including 15 goals and seven assists.
And having set up a two-legged semi-final against third-placed Brentford, Danjuma is determined to play his part in helping the Cherries reach Wembley.
However, the winger is certainly not getting ahead of himself and knows the Bees will provide formidable opposition having completed the double over the Cherries.
Danjuma capped a memorable league campaign by being named in the Sky Bet Championship team of the season with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic also selected.
The Netherlands international has not looked back since netting a finely-taken goal in the club’s first pre-season friendly against Portuguese giants Benfica in August.
Dissecting the season in an interview with afcb.co.uk, Danjuma said: “Looking back, I think we have been through a lot of highs and lows.
“I was a little disappointed we dropped back to finish sixth after we had already secured a play-off place and Brentford will be a tough team to beat.
“We have quality and determination and there is a lot of talent in the group. We’ve been performing well recently, although not so well in the past three games so there is still a bit to improve on.
“We were well below our standards in those three games but there were also a lot of games where we put in good performances, especially against the top six.
“We did the double over the champions Norwich and took four points off Watford and Swansea. We won 4-0 at Barnsley and Brentford were the only team in the top six to beat us twice.
“Over the course of the season, we performed well against most of the higher-placed teams and struggled against some of the teams in the lower half.
“Overall, I’m happy we’re in the play-offs. That was our goal once we knew we couldn’t win the title or finish second and our aim now is to win the play-offs and return to the Premier League.”
The Cherries host Brentford at Vitality Stadium on Monday (6pm kick-off) before heading to west London for the second leg on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off).
Previewing the tie, Danjuma said: “We performed okay against them but, if you lose twice, how well have you really performed? Even if you perform to the best of your capabilities, if you lose, there’s nothing in it for you.
“I think Brentford will be very confident because they have beaten us twice, but I don’t mind that. I don’t mind being the underdog and don’t mind them coming here thinking they will beat us again.
“Going into the play-offs is a different kind of feeling to playing in the league. The pressure is different and so is the atmosphere. These are big-player games.
“The performances in training have been outstanding and you can see the players are getting on it and there is a different kind of mentality going into these games.
“Everyone knows the whole season will be superfluous if we don’t go up. I’m confident we will turn up in the play-offs and play like we know we can.”
Danjuma featured for Club Brugge when they lost out to Genk in a play-off for the Belgian top-flight title in 2018/19.
He announced himself on the European stage by scoring a stunning goal to equalise for Brugge against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in front of a crowd of more than 55,000 in Spain in October 2018.
And just 13 days later, he marked his full debut for Netherlands by netting in a 1-1 draw against Belgium in a friendly in Brussels.
Danjuma, who signed from Club Brugge in July 2019, saw his debut campaign in Dorset hindered by injury and was restricted to 14 appearances in the Premier League.
Asked whether his first season in the Championship had gone better than he had expected, Danjuma replied: “No, it’s gone worse, to be fair.
“There are a lot of good things for me. I was in the EFL team of the season, I won some individual trophies and scored 15 goals and seven assists.
“My performances have been good and I feel I’ve been consistent. But I always expect more from myself and just want to be the best in everything I do. I wake up every day and want to be the best.
“Am I grateful with what I’ve shown? Yes, I am.
“Am I satisfied? Not really, there’s always more to come from me.”
