Here we have Danilo Pereira da Silva, a Brazilian lad who was born on 7 April 1999 and is apparently only known by his first name. Because, you know, 'Pereira da Silva' would surely be too much of a mouthful. This rambunctious lad currently enjoys striking fear into the hearts of defences while traipsing about for Rangers. Weighing in at a solid 11 stone 9 pounds (74 kilos for those of you who prefer not to deal with this old-timey nonsense), and standing at a dwarfing 5 foot 8 inches (that's 1.74 metres if you live in the 21st century), he does his point-making primarily in the number 99 jersey.
In what must have been a lifeline for someone in dire need, Danilo gained his escape out of the Brazilian Série A, specifically Santos, back in 2017. He was shipped off to freeze his bits off in the Dutch Eredivisie with Ajax for the meagre sum of £1.8 million. His first couple of seasons were not exactly thrilling stuff, one appearance in his first season, followed by a grand total of 13 with a brace of goals, some years later.
In what some cynical folk might call a 'cry for help', Danilo was farmed out on loan to FC Twente in 2020. Evidently knocking something of a purple patch, our boy managed to slot home 17 goals in a whopping 33 appearances, before his loan period ended faster than an Edinburgh summer.
After his sweet taste of glory, it was back to the drawing board with Ajax. But the lads over in Rotterdam at Feyenoord had been watching, and probably drooling, as our Brazilian goal-sniffer had made quite a name for himself. In a flurry of paperwork and bank transactions, Danilo found himself transferred to Feyenoord, where he carried on with his stint of showboating, scoring ten goals in 34 outings.
Finally, someone scribbled a cheque for £6 million to bring Danilo over to Scotland, granting him the 'pleasure' of playing for Rangers. You would think after all his gallivanting about Europe, he might have slowed a bit, but no. Despite all the deep-fried Mars bars, he's knocked in four and five goals in the last two seasons respectively. His current season form is still up in the air, having only made three appearances so far.
Just as a wee side note, in case you thought playing in the league was his only hobby, over the last few seasons he has also dipped his toes into the League Cup, Europa League and even flirted with the Champions League Qualifiers. So, there you have it - Danilo Pereira da Silva, the Brazilian nomad turning Scots defence into Swiss cheese.
