Europa League finalists Rangers have missed out on Danilho Doekhi with Union Berlin confirming the signing of the Vitesse Arnhem captain, as reported by the Bundesliga outfit’s official website.
Pockets deeper than the Marianas Trench are no guarantee of success, even in today’s oil-stained, state-backed, Super League-pushing era.
Just ask Hertha Berlin.
On the final day of the Bundesliga season, an expensively-assembled Hertha side coached by cheese-loving tactician Felix Magath dropped into the relegation play-off spots, despite spending around £130 million on new signings since the 2019 takeover by Lars Windhorst.
The ‘largest investment deal in the history of German football’, per Forbes.
Whoever came up with the phrase ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ must be feeling rather smug this morning. Because, while Hertha stress, Union celebrate.
The so-called ‘poor relations’. A team who, despite never having played Bundesliga football until their shock promotion a couple of years ago, have now secured European qualification for the second straight season.
Union finished fifth, their best-ever placing, one point off the Champions League spots. Quite the achievement, especially when you consider that Union have invested £100 million less on players than Hertha since the summer of 2019.
Union Berlin sign Danilho Doekhi ahead of Rangers
And Doekhi, arriving on a free after his Vitesse contract expired, looks like another bargain signing made by a well-run, modest, old-school football club, one who feel like the antidote to a sickness coursing through the veins of our, ahem, beautiful game.
“With the move to the Bundesliga, I want to take the next step in my career,” says Doekhi. “Union is a huge opportunity for me and I want to take the club forward on its way. In the conversations, I also gained the feeling that I can continue to improve here.
“I’ve also heard a lot about the stadium and the atmosphere here, and I’m especially looking forward to it.”
The 23-year-old Dutchman admitted a few months ago that the Glasgow giants were ‘watching’ him closely before choosing Union Berlin over Ibrox (De Telegraaf).
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“Danilho has the ideal conditions for a modern central defender,” adds Oliver Ruhnert, Union’s sporting director.
“He has a strong physique, but at the same time is also very agile. As captain of Vitesse, he has learned to take responsibility and to play a leading role in the team structure.”
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