Why Rangers was the best choice for Danilo to take next big step

Leaving the Dutch champions for last season’s Scottish runners-up doesn’t seem on paper like a giant leap forward but Danilo has little qualms that he has made the right move at the right time.

Rangers forward Danilo during a photocall at the new club Museum at New Edmiston House.

The Brazilian has arrived in Glasgow as not just the latest piece in Michael Beale’s new-look jigsaw but also the most expensive one. Shelling out somewhere in the region of £5.5m to land the centre forward from Feyenoord signals how highly Rangers value him but also comes with a degree of expectation. The 24 year-old scored 10 times in 34 Eredivisie appearances last season but there will likely be an onus for him to improve on that in his maiden campaign in Scottish football.

It is a good sign from Rangers’ perspective that Feyenoord did not want to lose him and had he stayed Danilo would have been guaranteed Champions League group stage football. Rangers will need to navigate through two tricky qualifying rounds to get to that juncture but there was something about the overall package that made a switch to Ibrox irresistible.

“It’s definitely [a step up] as Rangers are a club which fights for the titles,” he said. “When I see the passion of the fans it’s like they bring you up. This is how I take the next step.

“I was at a huge club in Holland and for the next step as a football player I think Rangers was the best choice and the best way to develop myself. I’m super happy to be here and so glad to be part of the Rangers family.

“With any player, when Rangers come and they really want you then you can’t have any doubts. When Rangers were speaking with my agent we agreed that we definitely should go there. It’s a great competition and a great club to make a big step. Rangers are a huge club.”

Centre forwards are feted like no other player on the pitch but only if they deliver in front of goal. Danilo is in effect replacing Alfredo Morelos, the Colombian who could frustrate and bedazzle in equal measures, but the enthusiastic reaction of the Rangers support once the prospect of a deal first raised its head made him fully aware of what he was signing up for.

“The fans are huge and that was another of the main reasons to come here,” he confirmed. “I got messages every day when I was watching Twitter saying, ‘Come Danilo, we are the people.’ I follow God and I put up words from the Bible sometimes.

“I shared one time a saying that God is the way and the fans were saying, ‘no, we are the way, we are the people!’ That was when I said to my family and my agent ‘okay we need to make this happen.’

“I felt so much love when I arrived here and it made me feel so comfortable and so at home. I am looking forward to scoring my first goal at Ibrox. I want to make history for the club. This is my next step and I’ll try to succeed in Scotland with Rangers.”

Danilo cites his role models as Ronaldo – Cristiano, presumably, rather than his countryman – and Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus, with whom flattering comparisons have been made.

“I definitely looked up to Ronaldo,” he adds. “What a striker! I watched a lot of his movements and goals. But from the new generation I’ve watched a lot of Gabriel Jesus. A lot of people say I am the same type of striker, playing wise, so I’ve looked to him a lot too.”