The last few seasons of Danilo’s career have tended to follow a similar storyline.
A strong start, followed by a dip in form. With 11 goals in 13 games to start the 2020/21 campaign on loan at FC Twente, the then-Ajax owned striker had the Eredivisie’s Golden Boot in his sights by Christmas.
That was until he found the net just six more times between December and May.
After returning to the Johan Cruyff Arena in time for 2021/22, Danilo scored in his second Eredivisie game of the season but only managed one more over the next nine months.
And then came his free transfer to Feyenoord, and another bright start. But by the time the champagne corks went a-popping at De Kuip – Feyenoord claiming only their second Eredivisie title since the turn of the century – Danilo had been relegated to the role of a substitute, overtaken in Arne Slot’s pecking order by the prolific Santiago Gimenez.
So should Danilo swap Rotterdam for Rangers this summer – the Daily Mail say that he is one of the strikers currently under consideration at Ibrox – no one should be getting carried away if the 24-year-old Brazilian kicks off his Scottish Premiership career with a flurry of ice-cool finishes.
Rangers eye Feyenoord striker Danilo
There are no doubts about Danilo’s quality. It’s his consistency – or a lack thereof – which continues to hold back a man who has scored 39 times across the last three seasons but who’s goals have tended to come in purple-coloured bunches rather than over a sustained period of time.
“But Danilo did an excellent job at FC Twente last year,” his then-Ajax coach Erik ten Hag said at the start of 2021/22, expressing his desire to integrate Danilo into the first-team picture in Amsterdam.
“He has shown himself well. He has qualities that can help us.”
Those ‘qualities’, however, were not enough to see Danilo oust Sebastien Haller as Ajax’s first-choice number nine. Nor will they will be enough to win over an expectant Rangers fanbase if Danilo’s form again dries up.
‘A virtuoso’
“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. He has an eye for his fellow players. He has the potential to become a very good striker.”
The sheer quality of some of Danilo’s finishes back up De Boer’s argument. There comes a time, however, when ‘potential’ is no longer enough.
Danilo will need more than promise and raw ability if he is to do at Rangers what he never quite managed at Feyenoord or Ajax, and become not only a scorer of great goals but a great goalscorer too.
