Danilo and the Rangers transfer connection to Philippe Clement as forward on boss' radar YEARS before Ibrox emergence

He may have been hiding his features behind a protective mask since the change in manager at Rangers.

But Danilo’s best attributes were no secret to Philippe Clement when he swept into power at Ibrox last month. Indeed, had the Belgian got his way two winter transfer windows ago, he would already have had a first-hand knowledge of what the Brazilian brings to a forward line.

As Brugge boss Clement was in talks with Ajax over a move for the then 23-year-old who was starting to make waves in the Eredivisie but still spending much of his time on the Amsterdam bench. That bid proved fruitless for Clement. But having finally got the chance to work with Danilo in Govan the new boss is well versed in what the frontman can bring to the party. Not just that but he believes the £5.5million summer signing from Feyenoord has the potential to become much better.

After a slow start in Scotland, that was brought to a halt by a brutal cheekbone injury, Danilo has returned to the fray as a second-half sub in every one of Clement’s three games in charge. And his stoppage time goalscoring rescue act against Hearts on Sunday suggested he is close to a starting berth – especially with fellow summer signing Cyriel Dessers continuing to struggle.

And while Clement was giving nothing away in terms of his team selection to face Dundee tonight, he certainly sees a bright future for the marquee signing. He said: “I knew Danilo when he was at Ajax and I was at Brugge. We talked about him at the moment when he was struggling to get into the team at Ajax.

“He was going to leave – in January. We had some talks about that. But finally it did not happen. So I knew him already for a long time. He is someone with potential but who also still needs to