Danilo Luiz da Silva (born 15 July 1991), known as Danilo, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club Juventus and the Brazil national team. Danilo began his career with América Mineiro before moving to Santos, where he scored the goal that won the 2011 Copa Libertadores. In January 2012, he moved to Portuguese club

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, where he won consecutive

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

titles. In 2015, he joined

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

following a €31.5 million transfer fee. In 2017, he joined Manchester City. In 2019, having won two

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

titles, an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and two EFL

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

s with City, Danilo joined Juventus, winning the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

title during his first season with the club. Danilo was first capped by the senior Brazil team in 2011, also winning the 2011 U-20 World Cup and a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He represented the nation at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, the 2021 Copa América and the 2022 World Cup.

Club career

Early years & Santos

Danilo was born in Bicas,

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. He played youth football with Tupynambás and América Mineiro, and competed at senior level with the latter club in the Campeonato Mineiro and the Série C, winning the latter in 2009 and gaining promotion. In May 2010, Danilo was transferred to Santos. Investor

DIS Esporte D.I.S. Esporte e Organização de Eventos LTDA. is a private football investment fund. It was set up by Rio Grande do Sul native Delcir Sonda and Idi Sonda. They operate one of the São Paulo state supermarket chains, Sonda. DIS was the strategic ...

acquired 37.5% of his economic rights, Santos another 37.5% for free and the remaining 25% were retained by América. He won the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and competed in two Série A seasons with the team. Danilo played the full 90 minutes of both legs of the

2011 Copa Libertadores Finals The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América Finals were the final two-legged tie that decided the winner of the 2011 Copa Libertadores de América, the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club foo ...

against

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

, the first in

central midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and the second at right-back, and scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 victory following a goalless first match.

Porto

In early January 2012, following the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, Danilo signed for Portuguese club

on a contract lasting until June 2016 following a €13 million transfer fee paid by Porto. His contract included a €50 million release clause. He initially played understudy to

Cristian Săpunaru Cristian Ionuț Săpunaru (born 5 April 1984) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays mainly as a centre-back for Liga I club Rapid București, which he captains. He can also be deployed as a right-back or a defensive midfielder. Săpu ...

, but soon became first choice, with compatriot

Alex Sandro Alex Sandro Lobo da Silva (born 26 January 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Juventus and the Brazil national team. At club level, Alex Sandro began his career with Atletico Paranaense, and later ...

– who signed at the same time – featuring on the other defensive wing as the Vítor Pereira-led team won back-to-back

titles. Danilo scored his fourth competitive goal of the 2014–15 season on 18 February with a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to equalise at 1–1 away to

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

in the Champions League round of 16.

Real Madrid

On 31 March 2015, it was announced that Danilo would join

in July, with the Spaniards paying a €31.5 million transfer fee for his services and signing him to a six-year contract. He made his debut on 23 August in a goalless draw at

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sport ...

, which was also the season opener. On 24 October, he scored his first goal for the team, in a 3–1 away win against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

. Danilo contributed with seven appearances in the 2015–16 edition of the Champions League as Real Madrid won the tournament. In

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, he came on as a substitute for injured

Dani Carvajal Daniel "Dani" Carvajal Ramos (; born 11 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spain national team. Having risen through the Real Madrid youth ranks, he spent a sea ...

early into the second half of a 1–1 draw and

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

triumph. In 2016–17, profiting from several physical ailments to Carvajal, Danilo contributed with 17 matches and one goal as the club was crowned

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

champions for the first time in five years. He also played in three matches in the club's Champions League campaign, helping Madrid win its second consecutive Champions League title.

Manchester City

upDanilo training with Manchester City in 2017 On 23 July 2017, Danilo signed for English

club Manchester City on a five-year contract for a reported £26.5 million transfer fee. He scored his first goal for his new team on 23 December, replacing

Fabian Delph Fabian Delph (born 21 November 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder or left-back. He was on the books of Bradford City as a youngster until he moved to Leeds United aged 11. Having played 45 matc ...

late into the home fixture against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

and scoring the final goal of a 4–0 home win.

Juventus

On 7 August 2019, Danilo signed for

champions Juventus on a five-year contract following a €37 million transfer fee paid by Juventus. The transaction involved a part-exchange that saw

João Cancelo João Pedro Cavaco Cancelo (; born 27 May 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a full-back or as a wing-back for club Manchester City and the Portugal national team. A creative, skillful, strong, and versatile player, ...

move to Manchester City. Danilo made his Juventus debut on 31 August in a match against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, in which he scored the opening goal of an eventual 4–3 home victory, which was also the fastest goal scored by a foreign player in Serie A. In the 2020 Coppa Italia Final against Napoli on 17 June, following a 0–0 draw after regulation time, Danilo missed Juventus' second spot kick in the resulting shoot-out, hitting the ball over the crossbar. Napoli ultimately won the match 4–2 on penalties. On 10 January 2021, in a Serie A game against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

, Danilo opened the scoring with a 25-meter goal; Juventus won 3–1.

International career

Courtesy of his Santos performances, Danilo made his debut for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 14 September 2011 at the age of just 20, featuring in the first leg of that year's Superclásico de las Américas, a 0–0 away draw against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(2–0 aggregate win). In the same year, he started for the under-20s at the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

, with the tournament in Colombia ending in victory. Danilo represented the under-23 team at the

. He played four matches in Brazil's journey to the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

, scoring against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the group stage (3–0). Danilo was also named in Tite's

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

in Russia, making his debut in the competition on 17 June by playing the entire 1–1 draw to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He incurred an injury on 6 July the day before the quarter-final clash with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, being sidelined for the remainder of the tournament. Danilo scored his first senior international goal on 19 November 2019 in a 3–0 friendly win against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

played in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. In June 2021, he was included in Brazil's squad for the 2021 Copa América on home soil. He started in his nation's 1–0 defeat to rivals Argentina in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

on 10 July. On 7 November 2022, Danilo was named in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. During the opening game against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, Danilo injured his ankle, forcing him to skip the rest of the group stage.

Style of play

In 2012, '' Marca'' compared Danilo to compatriot and fellow right-back

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

, describing him as "a tireless right back with an attacking streak and a polished technique. His continual runs up and down the flank also serve to make him a tough defender, who plays well as a sweeper and anticipates the play. He measures 6 feet tall and, in spite of his slender build, does well up top," also dubbing him as being "one of the best right backs of the future," due to his high quality performances at the time. Although primarily a right-back, he has also been deployed as a right-winger, or even as a central or

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

in front of the back-line on occasion. In 2015, Tim Vickery, an expert on South American football, said the following of Danilo: "From Carlos Alberto to

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the gr ...

, Brazil have had more spectacular players at right-back than most - but Porto man Danilo is proving a splendid all-rounder. He can join the attack as an element of surprise, but his defensive skills are also sound." Under his Juventus manager

Maurizio Sarri Maurizio Sarri (; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professional football manager who is the current manager of club Lazio. Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a banker. ...

, Danilo has also been used as a makeshift left-back. A 2019 profile in ''

Tuttosport ''Tuttosport'' is an Italian sport newspaper published in Turin, Italy. History and profile ''Tuttosport'' was first published on 30 July 1945. Renato Casalbore (who later died in the 1949 Superga air disaster alongside the Il Grande Torino fo ...

'' by Giovanni Aramini also praised him for his tactical sense, positioning, and ball-winning capabilities, describing him as a "complete" defender. Under

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

, he has also been used as a right-sided centre-back in a three-man back-line.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.''

Honours

América Mineiro * Campeonato Brasileiro Série C: 2009 Santos *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

Porto *

: 2011–12, 2012–13 Real Madrid *

: 2016–17 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

: 2016 * FIFA Club World Cup: 2016 Manchester City *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2018–19 * EFL Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19 Juventus *

: 2019–20 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Supercoppa Italiana:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Brazil *

South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American a ...

* Superclásico de las Américas:

, 2014 *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Silver medal:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Individual * Campeonato Mineiro Best Newcomer: 2010

References

External links

Manchester City official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danilo 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Brazilian footballers Association football defenders América Futebol Clube (MG) players Santos FC players FC Porto players Real Madrid CF players Manchester City F.C. players Juventus F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players La Liga players Premier League players Serie A players UEFA Champions League winning players Brazil youth international footballers Brazil under-20 international footballers Olympic footballers of Brazil Brazil international footballers Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy