Journalist Rob Guest has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur director Fabio Paratici personally approached Arnaut Danjuma to praise him after scoring on his debut.

What’s the word?

Earlier this week, the winger arrived at Spurs on loan for the season, signing from Villarreal despite having been very close to joining Everton instead.

And the 25-year-old has spent little time settling into his new environment as he scored in his first appearance for Tottenham as the club claimed a FA Cup victory.

Indeed, playing away at Preston North End, a brace from Son Heung-min gave Spurs a comfortable lead before Danjuma came off the bench to net a third on his debut.

After the game, Guest noted that sporting director Paratici took the time to put an arm around the shoulder of the goalscorer, to presumably praise the loanee for his immediate contribution.

In an article for football.london, he explained: "Managing director of football Fabio Paratici was watching on behind the goal as a handful of players, including Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Ben Davies, went through some runs. Once those involved had finished and made their way back towards the tunnel, Paratici shared a brief moment with Danjuma as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders and said a few words to him.

"The Italian will undoubtedly have been praising his new signing after marking his Tottenham debut in the best way possible. Bolstering Tottenham's attack going into the business end of the season, the arrival of Danjuma could turn out to be a very shrewd deal for the Lilywhites."

Instant impact

As mentioned before, Danjuma had been very close to joining the Toffees instead – he even completed a medical with the Premier League rival – so Paratici might have enjoyed getting this deal done more than most due to the dramatic nature of the move.

And Spurs are already reaping the rewards of getting the loan sorted with Danjuma netting just 16 minutes after coming on off the bench to make his debut for the club. In that period, he only managed to touch the ball three times, but he sure made one of those touches count.

Of course, one of the advantages to signing the 25-year-old is that he is familiar with English football – having scored 17 goals in 52 outings with Bournemouth – and so Antonio Conte and co will be hoping this immediate impact is a sign of things to come over the coming months.

It hasn't been a good few weeks for Paratici, who could be banned from football for a period of time due to his past involvement with Juventus, but he'll be delighted to see one of his new signings coming good at Spurs.