Rangers last week captured the services of Brazilian striker Danilo from Feyenoord, as he becomes the 8th summer signing of Michael Beale’s rebuild this summer. The 24 year-old Ajax academy graduate joins in a 5 year deal, for a fee of €6.3 million, the highest Rangers have paid for a player since Ryan Kent from Liverpool in 2019.
Here, we carry out a detailed assessment on what the new forward will bring to Ibrox. All stats and figures are from: Wyscout, Transfermarkt, and FBref.
Background
Danilo Pereira da Silva was born in São Paulo in Brazil, and in his youth he played for a few massive sides such as Corinthians, Vasco de Gama, and Santos, before being bought for €2 million from Ajax in 2017, to join their academy.
While at Ajax, Danilo was prolific in the second tier in the Netherlands, hitting 31 goals in 50 games for Jong Ajax, before getting a very impressive 17 goals and 5 assists on a season long loan at FC Twente, in his debut season in the Eredivisie. Trying to get into the first team at Ajax proved to be a very tough task, but Danilo still contributed with scattered minutes coming from the bench, while also scoring 6 in 3 in the KNVB Beker in 2021/22 (the Dutch domestic cup). He then left to join fellow title rivals Feyenoord on a free transfer, which proved to be a bit of a blunder for the Amsterdam side, as Danilo helped Feyenoord to their 16th league title (and first since 2017) last season, mainly playing as their second choice striker in the second half of the year behind Santiago Giménez.
10 goals and 3 assists from around 1300 minutes was very respectable as a backup striker, and now the Brazilian clearly feels he is ready to be the main man, and it looks like Rangers will be giving him that opportunity.
Technical
As he is a Brazilian striker wearing number 99, you may have assumed this already, but technically, Danilo is very good. In front of goal, he excels at one touch finishes, and can find the net with both feet. Below is his shot map from the past year:
As you can see, Danilo is a penalty box striker who takes most of his shots from central areas in between the 18 yard line and the 6 yard box, hitting the target very frequently. He also has a great variety of finishes in his locker including headers, which for a forward who’s not the biggest, is quite impressive. Regularly finding himself free at the far post, Danilo is another new singing who will be a threat from set pieces. As we saw at several points last season, a big penalty area threat is something Rangers badly need, to try and convert the amount of crosses and cutbacks coming in from the wide areas, especially with the departure of Antonio Čolak.
The Brazilian also has an excellent long range strike, and loves to finish in the top right corner from range:
Danilo is a competent penalty taker as well, showing calmness with a stuttered run up, before usually sending the keeper the wrong way:
When dribbling, he has a low centre of gravity and quick feet, as we saw from his small cameo against Hoffenheim last week, and is able to win fouls quite a lot. Danilo is not really a 1 v 1 dribbler however, and isn’t going to pull off many fancy flicks or skills, instead opting to try and link possession.
Danilo’s link up play with his back to goal is pretty good, and he comes short a lot to try and connect play with the midfield and other attackers. For Feyenoord, he was usually the striker who would drop deep more often in the front two, with Santiago Gimenez using his physicality to pin the backline. A tactic we could see at Rangers with Cyriel Dessers.
Tactical
A Look at Danilo’s career heatmap tells us what kind of positions that he likes to take up on the pitch:
He’s very active in the penalty area, as well as coming to deeper areas to get involved in play, favouring the left side, cutting in onto his right.
Analysing his movement, Danilo is very clever, and has a lot of variety in his game. Outside the box he can use his pace to get in behind the defence:
However, his movement in the box is what truly sets him apart. He can quickly get across defenders, or hang back at just the right moment to get on the end of cutbacks:
Playing against packed defences almost every week in the Scottish Premiership, Danilo’s movement in the penalty box to convert chances and loose balls, could be the difference in turning draws into wins, and could end up being the defining factor if Rangers are to win silverware this season.
The Brazilian is also a very good presser, not giving his opponent a moment’s peace in the final third, and defends from the front. All the clubs that he’s played for so far have used high pressing systems, which should make him slot in pretty easily to Rangers’ narrow pressing structure, and provide a lot of energy in the forward line (something severely lacking last season).
Danilo is capable of leading the line by himself and being a penalty box poacher, as well as playing in a front two. He has also filled in out wide or slightly deeper in attacking midfield positions before, but is primarily a number 9. We know that Micheal Beale will be very flexible with his forward players this season, and Danilo is another who can occupy a number of different roles.
Physical
Coming in at 5’9, Danilo is not the tallest or most physical striker, and I actually think he could still improve his upper body strength a bit to be able to compete better with the increased physicality of the Scottish Premiership. Sometimes he can get knocked off the ball too easily. Instead, Danilo is very athletic and relies on his pace and agility to beat defenders.
Despite not being the tallest, he has a very good leap, and times his jumps well, aiding his aerial prowess from crosses and set pieces.
Danilo’s only notable injury in his career so far was a hamstring injury suffered in 2019/20 with Ajax, where he was out for just over 3 months. He has been pretty much injury free since then.
Data
Looking at his data from last season for Feyenoord, it can provide some more context into Danilo as a player:
-He scored at the same rate as his xG, meaning that he scored the amount of goals that he should have done, based on the quality of chances created for him. (10 goals from 9.94 xG)
-He had a high goal conversion rate, being clinical with his chances.
-Scored a lot of headed goals per 90 compared to other strikers in the Eredivisie.
-Takes a lot of shots per 90, and accumulates a lot of xG per 90, meaning that he is heavily involved at the end of attacking moves.
-He’s very active in the box, taking a lot of touches in the box per 90.
-Can also create goals, with high assist and chance creation numbers.
-Usually very accurate with his passing.
-Dribble numbers are a bit on the low side, suggesting that he doesn’t take on his man often.
-High possession adjusted interception numbers, suggesting he is very active in the press.
FBref has Danilo statistically similar to his now former strike partner Santiago Giménez, and Mehdi Taremi at Porto.
Mental
When watching him, Danilo always seems very alert, and was always on his toes when the ball was in the final third. As mentioned before, he is a very active presser when the opponents have the ball. His high work rate in both pressing and tracking back, is one of the reasons why I think he did so well in limited minutes at Feyenoord last season, coming off the bench to inject high energy into the game, while competing with tiring defences.
When faced with chances at goal, Danilo was always composed and didn’t look like the pressure would ever get to him. He looks like a very confident player who I think will thrive playing in front of 50,000 every second week at Ibrox. The pressure will certainly be on him to deliver from the off, but he looks like he will be able to handle it.
However, some of Danilo’s decision making could still improve in my opinion, as sometimes he does try to do too much on his own instead of just releasing the ball, leading to a loss of possession, especially in deeper areas. Something he may need to iron out.
Fee and Wages
The transfer fee for Danilo’s transfer from Feyenoord to Rangers was reportedly €6.3 million. Considering he was only in the first year of his contract, and has a Transfermarkt market value of €6.5 million, I actually think Rangers were a bit lucky to get him for that price, and Feyenoord could have held out for more. Not being first choice, and Feyenoord only signing him on a free however, has probably worked in Rangers’ favour here. The fact that he is only 24, and still has lots of potential for Rangers to make profit on that fee, is very promising.
The main factor that has got this transfer over the line though is Danilo’s reported wage. Several outlets are claiming that Danilo’s 5 year deal, is worth as much as £40,000 a week, which would make him one of Rangers’ highest paid players, along with Jack Butland and Connor Goldson (Salarysport.com). This is a gigantic increase on his wage at Feyenoord, which was reportedly only €9,000 a week (Capology.com).
Verdict
Pros:
-Clinical finisher with both feet
-One touch finisher
-Penalty box threat
-Clever movement
-Positionally versatile
-Good with back to goal
-Fast and agile
-Provides a lot of energy and pressing
-Confident and composed
-Has sell on value
Cons:
-Not a lot of physicality
-Decision making could improve
-High wage
This transfer is in my opinion, the most exciting move at Rangers this summer, and after watching Danilo at length, I have almost no doubt that he will succeed here.
He is a different sort of profile of striker that the squad doesn’t really have, in that he is deadly in the penalty box, and effective outside it, both off the ball and on the ball. Danilo will provide a much needed different dimension, freshness, and energy to the attack. Having quality depth and competition in the forward line is something Rangers have badly needed for a while.
Danilo will be going straight into the starting XI to play up front on his own or as part of a front 2, and I would expect him to play the most minutes of any of Rangers’ forward players this season. It could be a very good tussle between him and Dessers for Rangers top goal scorer this season.
This is a big statement from Rangers, splashing the cash to sign a player of Danilo’s calibre, and the pressure is going to be on him from the off. The Brazilian flags are going to be out in force at Ibrox, and with the departure of Alfredo Morelos this summer, Rangers fans could now have a new South American hero.
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