Back in July, the prospect of paying £5 million for a striker with just 18 minutes of league football under his belt would have had Tottenham Hotspur fans scratching their heads and raising their eyebrows (CalcioNews24).
Flash forward to mid-November, however, and £5 million for Danilo suddenly looks like the sort of bargain that would send Tim Wonnacott into a tizzy.
As Ajax’s sporting director Marc Overmars admits, the Brazilian sensation has seen his transfer value soar after a record-breaking start to life on loan at FC Twente.
“Of course, Twente is happy with a good player and we will soon decide whether we will bring Danilo back,” the Arsenal legend-turned-transfer market extraordinaire told Ajax Life.
“His value will increase enormously anyway, which is very good.”
It certainly is, given that Ajax are a club who revolve around unearthing rough, uncut diamonds before selling them on for a major profit, a la Hakim Ziyech and Luis Suarez.
Danilo has a long way to go before he can count Suarez as an equal but, at present, there is no stopping a forward who appears to become more threatening by the week.
It is hard to believe Danilo had never started an Eredivisie match before Twente’s season opener against Fortuna Sittard in September.
In the space of just two short months, the Sao Paulo-born 21-year-old has evolved from a promising youngster with a fine record at reserve-team football into the most feared striker in the Netherlands.
No one has scored more than Danilo’s eight goals in the Eredivisie so far. A further four assists show that there is more to his game than clinical finishing.
Danilo is also the first player to score in his first eight games for Twente since 1967, earning a first call-up for Brazil’s U23 squad as a result.
They might hold a candle to the fabled ‘MSN’ but, at high-flying Twente, the attacking triumvirate of Danilo, Queensy Menig and Vaclav Cerny has the Pride of the East dreaming of a return to European football.
But regarldess of whether Twente can maintain their superb start, Danilo’s exceptional strike-rate, supreme link-play and searing pace means Tottenham will have to pay a lot more than £5 million if they come calling again in 2021.
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