Danilo won’t get NEC Nijmegen wish as Rangers set for new headache – here’s why
Rangers sanctioned a host of transfer exits for fringe players this winter, with Danilo being one of them.
Signed by Rangers from Feyenoord in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of up to £6million, Danilo was expected to spearhead Gers’ attack for many years to come.
After all, the Brazilian had moved to Ibrox off the back of a 14-goal campaign with Feyenoord, and also had goalscoring pedigree on his CV with fellow Dutch sides Ajax and FC Twente respectively.
However, injury issues and inconsistent performances and production over the last two-and-a-half-years has seen him fail to hit the heights many expected him to in Glasgow.
As such, and after not featuring in Danny Rohl‘s plans, the 26-year-old saw a loan move back to the Netherlands with NEC Nijmegen green lit in February.
Danilo hasn’t started well with NEC Nijmegen
Nijmegen do have the option to turn Danilo’s loan move into a permanent one this summer, with the striker hopeful of reigniting his career in a league and country he knows very well.
And, speaking in a recent interview with Voetbal International, Danilo revealed that he’s very much keen to see that option to buy triggered for him, with no clear intention to return to Rangers anytime soon.
“We’ll see if that happens. It’ll take a while, and I’ve only just arrived,” the striker said.
“I first have to show what I can do and convince the club to exercise that (permanent) option. Hopefully, we have some exciting months ahead.”
However, if he’s going to get his wish and seal a permanent move to the Dutch side, then Danilo is going to have to start upping his game soon.
As per Sofascore, he’s registered an expected goals (xG) number of 0.47 from his first four Eredivisie appearances since moving to Nijmegen, and has also missed one big chance.
He’s been unable to create any big chances for his teammates so far either, has won just 41 per cent of his total duels and is averaging 19 touches of the ball per appearance.
So, with only nine games of Nijmegen’s Eredivisie season remaining, Danilo is already in a race against time to start showing signs of improvement, otherwise, NEC surely won’t be triggering his purchase option this summer.
Danilo’s contract situation presents Rangers transfer problem
Penning a five-year contract with Rangers upon his 2023 transfer, Danilo is contracted at Ibrox until the summer of 2028.
So, if Nijmegen don’t want to make his move permanent, then the Brazilian will have to trudge back to Glasgow, and that would leave Gers with a big transfer problem regarding him.
He’s clearly not in the long-term thinking at Ibrox, but with no easy way out of his contract, Gers would have to find a different dance partner this summer, which may prove very difficult.
Should he continue to struggle with NEC between now and the end of the season, coupled with his injury issues in Glasgow, then finding a club who would be willing to part with a respectable transfer fee for him could prove tough.
Youssef Chermiti, Bojan Miovski and Ryan Naderi make up an exciting crop of centre-forward options moving forward, and Gers certainly won’t want Danilo sitting around eating into their wage bill either.
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