There is no doubt Rangers didn’t spend £6M on Brazil’s Danilo just to have a shiny Portuguese name on the roster at Ibrox – Michael Beale invested one of the club’s biggest-ever transfer fees in the ex-Feyenoord striker for goals, for impact, and for results.
And it would be fair to say the 24-year-old has far from impressed at this point.
As usual, we pre-empt the ‘give them time ffs’ brigade by being well aware of how long it took Borna Barisic and, it seems, Rabbi Matondo to settle in at Ibrox, but they cost a combined £4.5M. This one guy, with the hype surrounding him, cost even more.
And just two goals, one v Livi and one v Morton, are all we have to show for him in seven Rangers appearances.
In truth, his CV isn’t all that good. 29 goals in 81 in the Eredivisie is alright, but not earth-shattering, while he was absolutely rubbish in the Europa League netting just 3 goals in 11.
His fails in front of goal in the Champions League qualifiers for Rangers are not that surprising given he couldn’t do it at a level lower either.
Michael Beale has trusted Danilo, and in all fairness Rangers fans favoured the signing, even if many quizzed the sale of Antonio Colak. The success of Ced the Ted in Switzerland is also gaining a lot of attention.
But Danilo is a long way off from delivering what his price tag would expect. Even Dessers, scrappy though he’s been, has scored and assisted and made impact in matches. Big matches, no less.
Danilo has been poor, aside Livi. We didn’t pay £6M so he could be good only against a bottom 6 side.
When Rangers travel to PSV, he may well play a role, given the investment Michael Beale has made in him. And he needs to hope if that trust is given him, that he repays it with results, and not more chokes or invisible displays.
Danilo is not a dud, but we do need better from him.
Hopefully that starts tonight.