A Feyenoord legend believes the Dutch giants will ‘really miss’ Danilo as the striker closes in on a £6 million move to Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.
After the reigning Eredivisie champions accepted Rangers’ new and improved £6 million offer earlier this week (£5.2 million to be paid up front, per Sky Sports), Danilo was conspicuous by his absence as the rest of the Feyenoord squad returned to the training pitch on Wednesday.
According to Rotterdam-based publication 1908, Danilo has already said his goodbyes at De Kuip.
Tonight’s pre-season clash between Rangers and Olympiakos will come too soon, of course, but a debut may be on the cards when Mick Beale’s side take on Hoffenheim this weekend.
Striker Danilo on verge of leaving Feyenoord for Rangers
Danilo, a free signing from Ajax in the summer of 2022, lost his starting spot to fellow striker Santiago Gimenez in the middle of last term.
He still ended the campaign with 14 goals in all competitions, however. And club legend Willem van Hanegem believes his old employers may rue letting such a valuable member of Arne Slot’s squad go, especially with Champions League football set to test the limits of Feyenoord’s squad.
“I didn’t think he was a bad player,” Van Hanegem tells Algemeen Dagblad. “They will really miss him at Feyenoord. He should have stayed, for me.”
Danilo, alongside Los Angeles FC midfielder Jose Cifuentes, should become Rangers’ eighth and ninth signings of a busy summer respectively. Alongside Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers – both of whom also arrive at Ibrox after prolific stints in the Eredivisie – Danilo will form part of an all-new frontline following the departures of Alfredo Morelos and Antonio Colak.
“Danilo has mastered (controlling the ball). He has soft feet,” former Ajax and Rangers star Ronald De Boer told FOX a couple of years ago. “He is really a Brazilian. A virtuoso. He can turn away (from defenders) very quickly and shoot with his left or right.
“He has speed, vision and not only thinks about goals. (Danilo) has an eye for his fellow players. He has the potential to become a very good striker.”
