Palmeiras ace Dudu is convinced team-mate Danilo has the potential to play for a Premier League giant like Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea, speaking to ESPN.
On Monday night, as Arsenal collapsed like a house of cards in a Crystal Palace hurricane, Thomas Partey endured one of those evenings. One of those in which even simple 10-yard passes look beyond him.
One spent chasing shadows, one spent gift-wrapping free-kicks like they’re going out of fashion.
Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace might have been the worst of Partey’s Premier League career. The £45 million midfielder recently rated his overall performance in Gunners colours at 4/10.
At Selhurst Park, 4/10 looked generous.
Will Arsenal sign Danilo from Palmeiras?
Should Danilo arrive at the Emirates this summer – becoming the latest in a long line of Portuguese-speakers snapped up by Edu Gaspar and Mikel Arteta – Partey could not afford many more games like this.
According to Esportes, Arsenal made a £21 million for the Palmeiras enforcer during the January transfer window.
The fact that Danilo likens himself to the imitable N’Golo Kante should tell you all you need to know about what the tough-tackling 20-year-old would bring to the table.
“He has to play in the Premier League,” says Palmeiras team-mate Dudu. “I always tell him: ‘You have to play for Manchester United, for Arsenal’.
“You have to be calm. He’s a boy who gives his life, he scores, but I say: ‘You’re a player to play for Chelsea, for those teams.’
“I want him to stay with us. But that’s what I see (that Danilo has a future in the Premier League).”
West Ham United reportedly made an approach for Danilo too.
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His agent, meanwhile, confirmed a couple of weeks ago that relegation-threatened Watford – five years after bringing another fresh-faced Brazilian to Vicarage Road in Richarlison – had shown ‘concrete interest’ in one of South America’s most exciting young stars.
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