Fabio Silva finally left Wolves in the summer, and what one top German media outlet has said about the striker could leave some Molineux officials uncomfortable.
Fabio Silva departed Molineux in the last transfer window, after five years at the club – although he spent the last few seasons at various different clubs on loan.
Wolves splurged £35 million to sign Silva back in the summer of 2020, with many eyebrows being raised at the time.
Such an amount of money being spent surely suggested Silva as being a wonderkid.
But sadly, it never happened for Silva at Molineux, as he struggled to cope with the pressure of having to cover Raul Jimenez’s injury absence, combined with his fee. Silva later admitted he didn’t particularly want the move to Wolves in the first place, but the money involved left him with little say.
It became clear that Silva was far too raw, and unfortunately he never made the grade.
He finally left Wolves a couple of months ago, with Borussia Dortmund forking out just under £23 million to sign Silva – and one early verdict may have some Molineux officials squirming.
Fabio Silva tipped to replace Serhou Guirassy after impressive start at Borussia Dortmund
While Silva never really looked like breaking into the Wolves starting XI, some did always feel like there was big potential with him.
Ultimately, the conditions were just never right for Silva to thrive.
Perhaps he could have done more at times. But he was always up against it, and some did have sympathy with him.
Silva now has the chance to make a name for himself at Dortmund. And history tells us it’s a club where strikers can flourish. The likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland and Guirassy have all had great spells at the club.
Interestingly, it seems Silva has actually made a very promising start.
According to Bild, the Portuguese striker has impressed in every appearance he’s made so far. The publication describe him as a potential ‘problem’ for starting striker Guirassy, who has 10 goal contributions in 10 appearances already this season, no less.
So for his place to be under threat from Silva must mean he’s doing something very right.
About Guirassy, Bild note: that he ‘lacks a little connection to the game’.
They go on: “He can hardly pin down balls and always has problems with passing. A break could actually do him good.”
They are then very complimentary about Silva, calling him ‘absolute stimulus for Dortmund’s attacking play’ and someone who is ‘always causing a lot of turmoil’.
They add: “His strengths: He is fast, flexible and has an outstanding technique. What distinguishes him from Guirassy: Silva works tirelessly and doesn’t lose a ball.”
Niko Kovac also impressed with Fabio Silva
Silva has also earned some praise from his manager Niko Kovac.
After Silva scored his first Dortmund goal in the Champions League against Copenhagen, the Croat said: “He is very diligent in training. Very accurate, very clean in his executions, very team-oriented.
“Fabio comes more and more. I try to give him more and more minutes because he deserves them.”
So despite lacking a proper pre-season, Silva is turning heads at Dortmund.
And it will be really fascinating to see if he can build up a head of steam now.
Wolves fans are used to players not making it at Molineux and then thriving elsewhere, with Pedro Goncalves and Vitinha perhaps the two biggest examples of this, and some club officials will surely be slightly uncomfortable with the way he has started.