After much speculation about where Danilo would end up, Real Madrid have finally sold the Brazilian right-back to Manchester City. The fee is reported to be £25.5m.
Danilo came to Real Madrid before the 2015-2016 season. Real Madrid bought Danilo from FC Porto for £26.78m. That means Real Madrid are not getting quite what they paid for Danilo. However, they are recouping most of their money.
When Danilo came to Real Madrid, he was hyped to be one of the best up-and-coming right-backs in the world. It was starting to look like Danilo would finally get his chance under Rafa Benitez, who started him in the first to league matches of 2015-2016. But then, injuries set him back, and allowed Carvajal to prove himself indispensable.
BREAKING: Manchester City have completed the signing of Brazilian right-back Danilo from Real Madrid on a five-year deal pic.twitter.com/lDpEBZFKkl
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 23, 2017
Under Zidane, there was no question that Danilo was the backup to Carvajal, and not the other way around. Even when Carvajal went down with injury, Zidane trusted Nacho over Danilo.
This could have had something to do with a string of terrible performances in the middle of the season. Danilo scored an own-goal against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. He was bailed out at that point by Asensio, and Real Madrid advanced to face Celta in the semifinals. He then proceeded to get ANOTHER own-goal against Celta, contributing to Real Madrid’s ultimate elimination from that tournament.
For much of the remainder of the season Danilo seemed to suffer from a lack of confidence. While he began to look slightly more composed as the season wore on, you could tell he lacked the offensive verve and swagger that had caused him to earlier be heralded as one of the world’s most promising right-backs.
Ultimately, it’s good that Madrid have found a home for a player who was simply not going to cut it at the Bernabéu. Danilo’s not a bad player, but he needs to be elsewhere if he is going to rediscover his form. Real Madrid will now have a tough decision to make about who will replace Danilo as Carvajal’s backup. Nacho or Lucas Vázquez could both potentially play that role, but Zidane may instead try to go find a true backup right-back.
All the best to Danilo in his future endeavors. His career at Madrid may not have ended how he wanted it to, but we hope he manages to find success at his new club.
Next: OFFICIAL: Real Madrid release fan-designed third-kit for 2017-2018.