Danilo transfer to end Rangers’ near 30 year wait of a Brazilian striker

I think it’s safe to say that any footballing fan would like their time to have a Brazilian star in their side.

There is just a different level of attractiveness when it comes to the most talented players from Brazil, with their trademark Samba and Joga Bonito style approach to the game being incredibly enjoyable to watch.

What you find with Brazilian’s though is the top level stars to come from that country often get snapped up early on by some of Europe’s top clubs, such as Neymar and even recently with young teenage sensation Endrick set to join Real Madrid next summer.

Not many of them would see the Scottish Premiership and nine to ten months of mostly miserable weather as the move that stands out to them.

Thankfully for Rangers fans though, their wait for a Brazilian forward to rock up at Ibrox is finally set to end, with Feyenoord striker Danilo on verge of joining the club in a deal worth 6 million Euros.

Whilst the club have had a couple of Brazilian players in the past, they were either not of the standard you want in Emerson Cribari, or their career was on the decline in Emerson.

Now, we appear to have brought someone in from the South American country that appears to be at the peak of their powers.

Believe or not, as well, this isn’t the first time we’ve been close to getting a really top Brazilian striker.

The one many fans remember well was the case of Mario Jardel back in 1996.

Avid players of Championship and Football Manager will be well aware of his potential capabilities, but at the time, he was only just making his first inroads away from his home county into European football.

The deal was said to be that close, that only did he and his wife take in at match at Ibrox in the directors box, but he was also parading onto the pitch pre-match wearing official training gear.

Unfortunately, strict British rules at the time regarding non-EU players meant that the club were unable to gain a work permit for Jardel, and he instead went on to move to Portugal and Porto. 130 goals in 125 appearances would follow in a three-year spell, and he’d come back to haunt Rangers years later, playing a part in a victory for Galatasaray in the Champions League in 2000.

Despite attempting once again to bring him to Ibrox on three occasions between 1997 and 2003, it was a transfer that was just never destined to be.

One move that is lesser known that apparently had more legs that you’d think was in 1997 and it involved one Number 9 sensation that arguably doesn’t get the credit he deserved amongst the younger generation.

Yes, the original Ronaldo, R9, could have been plying his trade at Ibrox.

That summer, he would end up joining Inter Milan from Barcelona in a then-world-record fee of £25m. However, in an interview found by TalkSport from 2016 with Italian agent Giovanni Branchini, it was claimed that Rangers were in the list of three front-runners to sign the striker, alongside Inter and Lazio.

The rumoured £20m offer, which would be £37.5m adjusted for inflation, would have only seen Ronaldo feature in Champions League matches, but would have been an absolute sensational piece of business given the fact that he’d just won back-to-back World Player of the Year awards.

Granted, we wouldn’t have got to see him pull up to Tannadice on a cold, wet November’s night, but it would have been quite the coup.

Now, in the year 2023, a Brazilian striker will finally rock up at Ibrox. What heights will he be able to reach? We just have to wait and see.