of the armory The growing interest in Danilo now comes with a very clear background. The Botafogo midfielder looks increasingly like a player who is already halfway out the door.

The 24-year-old was unexpectedly pulled from Botafogo’s match against Corinthians on Sunday, officially due to “personal reasons”. This information was given globo esporte.

Questions were immediately raised over the timing in Brazil, especially as Danilo was expected to start in such an important match. So it is becoming impossible to ignore the bigger picture around him.

Botafogo won 3–1 even without him. However, talks afterward were almost entirely about the midfielder’s future.

And Arsenal are right in the middle of it right now.

Arsenal are leading the English interest

As mentioned earlierArsenal have already made contact with Danilo’s staff. They have moved beyond simple scouting to more concrete player positioning.

It matters even more now. This is because the perception in Brazil is that Danilo’s departure after the World Cup is becoming inevitable.

The midfielder is enjoying the best form of his career, with 9 goals and 3 assists in 21 matches this season, and is expected to be named in Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad.

Botafogo believe a strong tournament could boost his value to €40m (£34m), while current market expectations are still closer to €25m-30m (£21m-26m). So Arsenal’s timing looks smart.

While many clubs are waiting to see how the World Cup changes the market, the Gunners have already started laying the groundwork around the players’ camp.

Why was Danilo released?

Now reports from Brazil suggest that the decision to remove Danilo from the Corinthians match was influenced by several factors at once.

There was concern about fatigue after four starts in 12 days. He is also undergoing treatment for an ankle problem that still troubles him at times. Most importantly, Danilo himself is completely focused on saving his chances of going to the World Cup.

This created some tension internally.

according to globo esporteDanilo told manager Franklim Carvalho before the match that “His head wasn’t in the right place to play.”. Despite initially remaining in the squad, he was withdrawn completely due to another conversation on the morning of the match.

Furthermore, if Danilo had played against Corinthians, he would have reached 13 league matches and would have been ineligible to represent any other Brazilian club in the first division. Staying at 12 leaves the door open for Palmeiras or Flamengo.

Nevertheless, Botafogo reportedly believe it is highly unlikely that any Brazilian club will be able to reach the €40m (£34m) figure they want. Europe remains the priority – for both club and player.

‘Risk management’ before the World Cup

At this point, every decision surrounding Danilo seems to be tied to the World Cup.

Brazilian reports suggest he may not play again before the tournament. Despite still being theoretically available for upcoming matches, the situation is being viewed as a mix of physical precautions, transfer planning and pure “risk management”.

Danilo does not want to decide his future even before the World Cup. The feeling around the player is that the tournament could completely change the level of clubs pushing for him. And this is where Arsenal comes back into the picture.

Danilo wants another opportunity in Europe and specifically in England. After his mixed spell at Nottingham Forest, there is a strong feeling around the player He still has something to prove at Premier League level.

fulham, Manchester United, newcastle and tottenham All have been added in recent weeks. But Arsenal now appear to be the club moving forward with the most purpose in England.

And as Botafogo are already preparing for life after Danilo, the market around him is getting even hotter.

It appeared as if the Indiana Pacers would suffer their 17th consecutive loss of the season on Monday night when they visited the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center. The Magic may not be the toughest competitive team out there, but they have a winning record and are in the running for a spot in the Eastern Conference standings – pushing hard for the sixth seed and a direct playoff berth.

But the Pacers were bound to win one of these days; They had so much talent on the roster that they couldn’t have gotten a win with at least a little luck. On Monday night, they finally broke their cold spell, pulling off a 128-126 upset win over the Magic thanks to a 37-point performance from Pascal Siakam.

While Indiana has all the incentive in the world to lose the game, as finishing with the worst record in the NBA increases their chances of being a top-four pick in the first round this year, it would be very disappointing for a locker room full of winners to suffer consecutive losses.

At least, Pacers fans on social media were excited to end their bleeding.

Pacers fans in party mode on X

This season has been a complete nightmare for the Pacers. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and fans are at least happy to see a glimmer of hope on Monday night. However, as happy as fans are after this win, they want their team to lose here so that they can keep their 2026 first-round pick.

“We may lose again but I needed a man, thank you all so much,” wrote ex user @leviteight.

“Monthly win quota. Get ready to lose your last 10 games 😈,” @PacersID added.

“Great W lose now, please,” @ddter23 added.

MIAMI – Following the Miami Heat’s win over the Detroit Pistons, the team is now on a five-game winning streak led by captain Bam Adebayo. With Adebayo as the Heat star consistently reaching milestones like scoring 10,000 career points, he has also been used carefully by head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Adebayo is arguably in the midst of his best performances of the season so far, as over the last nine games where Miami has played coming out of the All-Star break, he has averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

The numbers when Adebayo is on and off the court are staggering, as the team has outscored others by 19.8 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor. Additionally, Adebayo has a net rating of +12.1 per screwball, which shows how important he is to the team, as during this recent period, the big man has taken a breather while working with both the starting and second units between his first and second stints of each half.

As for Spoelstra, he speaks on ‘maximizing’ his minutes, especially since Adebayo is in his “prime” phase.

“I think he’s accepting it. I think he’s really enjoying it right now,” Spoelstra said after the win over the Pistons. “He’s been on the court in both units, and we’re in the time of the year right now. He’s in his prime. I’ll play with him for a few minutes right now when we’re going for it. And I think he’s liking it, because he has a role with the starters, and then when he comes in with the second unit, it’s a little different. And even on offense and defense, I think it’s really keeping him engaged as a leader for us, he’s perfect. Is important in both lineups, being able to toggle between them.”

Erik Spoelstra explains how Bam Adebayo is taking his interesting rotation scheme, where he gets quick rests and plays with both units:

“I think he’s accepting it…he’s in his prime, I’ll just play with him for a few minutes while we go at it…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/b0kTH3fl90

– Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) 9 March 2026

The Heat’s Bam Adebayo on his unusual rotational pattern

While the Heat face an important week looking to extend their win streak and solidify their spot in the Eastern Conference standings, Adebayo will look to continue his stellar play on both sides of the ball if the team wants to avoid the play-in tournament. Not wanting to play in the tournament and finish eighth in the East, as was the case in his previous three seasons, Adebayo is willing to do whatever is necessary to win, as he especially feels better when Kel’El Ware comes in when he needs relief.

“I just go out there and work hard, man,” Adebayo said. “There’s really no order to it, and you’ll realize it after a while. We’ll talk about it. He was like, ‘I’ll change it up a little bit.’ At this point, I got into the rhythm, and hopefully he doesn’t change it again. And the thing about it is, we’re starting to trust the young fellow [Kel’el Ware] More. “He’s starting to come along.”

“And like I said, there won’t be 20 and 15 every night, but his presence was felt today. He was plus 11, and that’s what I look for for him, like making the right plays, being out there a lot, running in transition, blocking shots, and that gives me time to rest, and then we get a little bit of a synergy of double major lineups.”

In addition to Ware coming in for Adebayo, Spoelstra has started to utilize the duo on the floor together, which has led to positive minutes, as Miami looks to continue that when the team faces the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.