Danilo dos Santos de Oliveira, more commonly known as Danilo, has continued to show his qualities at Nottingham Forest following his arrival from Palmeiras in the January window.
Prior to his arrival at the City Ground, the young Brazilian attracted attention from the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal. He has quickly established himself as a regular in Steve Cooper's squad, contributing with two goals and one assist in 10 appearances.
After scoring his first goal for the Reds in the 3-1 win over Brighton in midweek, Danilo said: "It was very important. Firstly I have to thank God, my teammates, especially the Brazilians - Renan, Felipe and Scarpa who have been a great help since I came here. All I've got is gratitude for the support given by the team, and the fans, I'm over the moon [to score his first goal]."
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Many will argue that his move to Europe is long overdue, with former Palmeiras teammate Dudu already labelling Danilo as ‘complete’ and touting the 22-year-old for major success. Speaking to ESPN Brazil last April, 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."
High praise, and it is clear to see why Danilo has been courted by European clubs, a modern-day defensive midfielder who is as impressive on the ball as he is off it. Due to his tall frame, it is rare that Danilo opts to go to ground, preferring to try to retrieve possession in difficult situations.
He possesses an impressive passing range, consistently able to pick out forward runs by teammates from the base of the midfield with sweeping diagonal switches of play. Despite his size, Danilo is surprisingly agile and is often able to dribble and turn out of trouble in a congested midfield.
During his time with Palmeiras, Danilo has tended to operate as one half of a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 formation, although there seems little concern that he would quickly adapt to Steve Cooper’s preferred 4-3-1-2 set-up at Forest.
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