Vitesse Arnhem defender Danilho Doekhi has provided an exciting response after being quizzed on reported transfer interest from Rangers.
Ex-Ajax youth Doekhi was first linked to the Gers in the UK by Football Insider before links appeared in Dutch paper Der Gelderlander as well as the Telegraph.
The 23-year-old is a highly-rated centre-back who was part of the Netherlands squad for the European U21 Championships earlier this summer.
His involvement in the latter stages of that tournament came after a solid campaign for Vitesse, who he helped finish fourth in the Eredivisie.
“Danilho is extremely important,” said Vitesse manager Thomas Letsch in January [Netherlands News Live]. “He is one of the best centre backs in the league…Danilho is a great player, a great player, for us.”
Several English clubs and Serie A side Atalanta have also been linked with Doekhi but it seems he is open to a move to Ibrox.
“I can’t do anything with it now,” he responded when asked about the reported interest from the Light Blues [Daily Record]. “All my business runs through my manager, but if something is serious, I will seriously think about it.”
“In recent months, various clubs have shown interest, but nothing has been concrete so far. Or clubs have come forward that I do not see as the best next step in this phase of my career.”
This is an exciting response from a highly-regarded young talent who already has close to 100 senior matches under his belt for Vitesse.
Given that his contract expires next summer, there may also be some willingness on the part of his current club to do a deal.
However, the one glaring issue here is that Rangers are already extremely well-stocked at the back.
Steven Gerrard currently has Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun, Filip Helander, Niko Katic, Jack Simpson, George Edmundson, Lewis Mayo and Leon King competing to fill just two starting spots, so unless several of those players are moved on, it’s hard to see the club spending money on another centre-back.
Doekhi is one of three Dutch players the Gers have been linked with this summer and Rangers News recently spoke to a regional expert who assessed the links to the trio.
