Former Rangers boss Mark Warburton believes Mick Beale has signed a player of ‘great quality’ as former Feyenoord striker Danilo arrives at Ibrox to the tune of £5 million.
During an exceptional start to his loan spell at FC Twente in the 2020/21 season, Danilo bettered the return of another Brazilian goal-getter during his own Eredivisie stint. The legendary Ronaldo Nazario – before becoming a household name at Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid – kick-started his PSV Eindhoven career with six goals in his first 10 games.
Danilo, in the same timeframe, found the net no fewer than nine times.
Now, this is not the say the one-time Ajax starlet is destined to emulate Ronaldo’s impact on the world game. But, in a £5 million deal, Rangers have signed a striker who – when presented with a regular string of starts – is capable of finding the net at a pretty remarkable rate.
Rangers bring in Danilo from Feyenoord
Warburton, who secured Rangers’ return to the Scottish Premiership back in 2016, knows Beale’s latest summer signing well, having watched Danilo closely during Feyenoord’s Eredivisie-winning campaign last season.
“I like Danilo. He’s a good player and a decent signing,” Warburton tells the Scottish Sun. “I’ve known of him for a while from his Feyenoord days. He’s got great quality.”
That he does.
You only need look at the goal Danilo scored against AZ Alkmaar a few months back – a whipcrack of a shot which nearly tore a hole through the back of the opposition net from 25 yards out – to see that Rangers have landed a striker who should bring rare Brazilian brilliance to Scottish soil.
Beale, however, may have been more taken by the way Danilo got his name on the scoresheet during a 5-2 hammering of Vitesse Arnhem. Pressing ferociously form the front, he forced the Vitesse goalkeeper into losing possession in his own penalty area before slotting into an empty goal.
Beale demands more from his centre-forward than mere numbers; hence the sale of the prolific-but-one-dimensional Antonio Colak.
And Danilo ticks about every box imaginable from a Beale centre-forward; athletic, hard-working, an excellent presser and a superb finisher all rolled into one.
