(Football news) Danilo dos Santos de Oliveira, who is commonly known as Danilo has become a familiar to many fans as the young Brazilian was attracting attention from the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal. However, Nottingham Forest have seemingly won the race for the talented midfielder as Forest reached an agreement with Palmeiras for the 21-year-old, with the deal set to be worth £18 million plus add ons. The transfer will make Danilo the second signing of the winter window and the club’s 24th signing since promotion from the Championship last May.
He was born on April 19, 2001, in the city of Salvador in Bahia. In 2018 Danilo joined current club Palmeiras and quickly developed into one of the exciting stars in the academy. Danilo initially started off in the club’s under-17s side, but it wasn’t long before he had become a regular starter in the Periquito Verde midfield. With Danilo in the midfield Palmeiras became an unstoppable force in South American football as they went on to lift the coveted Copa Libertadores de América in both 2020 and 2021, in which the youngster played an integral part.
Due to his tall frame, it is a very rare sight that Danilo opts to go to ground as he prefers to try to retrieve possession in difficult situations. He possesses an impressive passing range, with the ability to pick out forward runs by teammates from midfield with diagonal switches. Despite his size, he is surprisingly very agile and often dribbles his way out of trouble in congested areas. During his time in Brazil, Danilo operated in a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 formation, although Steve Cooper prefers the 4-3-1-2 set-up at Forest as the Brazilian will look to straight away fill into the gaping midfield that they posses
Palmeiras teammate Dudu already labelled Danilo as ‘complete’ and touting the 21-year-old for major success. Dudu said: “For me, he needs to play in the Premier League. I always tell him, ‘You have to play at Manchester United, at Arsenal. It’s at those clubs. But you have to be calm, you have to have your head in place. He’s a player who marks, who arrives in the attack, who builds play for the offensive midfielders, who helps in defending. For me, he is the complete player.”
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