Glasgow Rangers kicked off the Russell Martin era with a big result on Tuesday night in the Champions League at Ibrox, as they beat Panathinaikos 2-0.
Goals from Findlay Curtis and Djedi Gassama in the second half of the match, aided by a red card for the away side, secured the victory for the Light Blues, who now take a two-goal advantage over to Greece next week.
Whilst it was not a perfect performance from the Scottish Premiership giants, as they needed goalkeeper Jack Butland to pull off a number of impressive stops, there cannot be too many complaints about a 2-0 win in a European match.
Especially when you consider that the likes of Gassama, Cyriel Dessers, and Hamza Igamane were resigned to the bench and Thelo Aasgaard was missing through injury.
Due to various fitness issues, Martin opted to go with Brazilian centre-forward Danilo through the middle as the starting number nine against Panathinaikos.
He failed to register a goal or an assist in his 74 minutes on the pitch, but did not have a single ‘big chance’ in front of goal, and there could be more to come from the striker this season.
What Danilo needs to be successful at Rangers
Possibly the biggest hurdle the 26-year-old marksman needs to jump over to be successful at Rangers is avoiding injuries, as he has been absent for far too many matches since his move to the club in 2023.
The Light Blues reportedly paid a fee of up to £6m to sign the attacker from Dutch giants Feyenoord two years ago, but the clash with Panathinaikos was only his 49th appearance in all competitions.
Type of injury
Broken cheekbone
Knee injury
Knee injury
Date of injury
September 2023
December 2023
September 2024
Return date
October 2023
May 2024
November 2024
Days out
43
171
65
Matches missed
9
32
12
As you can see in the table above, Danilo has missed 53 games through injury since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, with two knee injuries and one broken cheekbone, which led to him having to wear a protective face mask.
The Rangers number 99 has showcased his quality when he has been available, as rare as that has been, though, with a return of 12 goals and nine assists in his 49 appearances.
Last season, Danilo scored five goals, created eight ‘big chances’, and registered four assists in 23 matches in the Premiership, despite only starting eight of those games.
But the Brazilian attacker did not get any service against Panathinaikos, and that is why the Gers need to sign more creative players to provide the striker with the opportunities he needs to score.
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Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
According to IbroxNews, the Scottish giants will need to pay a fee of around £15m to sign winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi from Premier League side Crystal Palace.
The report claims that the Eagles would prefer to sell the 22-year-old forward, rather than send him out on loan, and they will want a fee of at least £15m to part ways with him.
Tore Andre Flo’s £12m move from Chelsea in 2000 remains the club’s current record signing to this day, which means that a £15m splurge on Rak-Sakyi would smash that.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein claimed that Rangers have had an offer of a loan with an obligation to sign the forward for around £10m turned down by Palace, and they may now have to break their transfer record to bring the Englishman to Ibrox this summer.
Why Rangers should sign Rak-Sakyi
Splashing out a club-record fee of £15m would be a huge gamble by Rangers because there would then be immense pressure on Rak-Sakyi to be a superstar in Scotland.
The left-footed winger would have to win the club many trophies and or go on to be sold for a healthy profit for the transfer to be viewed as a success, which may be why the Gers may be hesitant to commit such funds to a deal.
However, Rangers could land an excellent right-wing prospect and reignite Danilo’s career at Ibrox if they decide to sign Rak-Sakyi, or if they are able to negotiate a loan deal with Palace.
The 22-year-old starlet, who was likened to a “slalom skier” by former boss Dean Holden, has shown great promise in his loan spells away from Palace so far, shining in League One with Charlton and in the Championship with Sheffield United.
Appearances
43
34
Starts
40
22
Goals
15
7
Minutes per goal
233
248
Big chances created
5
3
Key passes per game
1.3
0.9
Assists
8
2
As you can see in the table above, Rak-Sakyi has scored 22 goals and provided ten assists in 77 games in the EFL in his career to date, which shows that he has the potential to score and create goals from the right flank.
At the age of 22, he also has the time left ahead of him to continue to grow and develop as a player, which is why he could be an investment that has the potential to grow in value, even if the club smash their club-record to sign him.
The left-footed wizard could also help to reignite Danilo’s Ibrox career by providing the striker with a winger who can score the ‘big chances’ that he creates, whilst also being able to offer creativity from the flank to ensure that the forward has opportunities to score.
Of course, the Brazilian forward also needs to work on his fitness to ensure that he is available for Martin to select week-in-week-out in the 2025/26 campaign, but if he can do that then Rak-Sakyi could be a dream winger for him to play with.
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Whether that means that the Palace youngster is worth £15m is hard to say, as it will depend on how his career at the club ultimately plays out, but he is a quality winger who could thrive alongside Danilo and be a strong addition to the squad, however a deal gets done for him.