Wolves fell to another defeat at the weekend against Arsenal – and there was once again no game time for Fabio Silva.
Gary O’Neil watched as his side were rather outclassed by the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. It was only 2-1 in the end, but the scoreline flattered Wolves who spent a lot of time in their own half.
Wanderers showed good character though to stay in the game, and gave themselves a chance when Matheus Cunha – who O’Neil described as ‘a top player’ after the match – pulled a goal back.
But they left it too late, and Arsenal saw out the game.
O’Neil made four substitutions on Saturday, but there was – once again – no involvement for Fabio Silva, whose position at Molineux is now looking extremely uncertain…
Fabio Silva looks to be on the brink at Wolves
Silva has now not seen any minutes for Wolves in the last three Premier League games.
The last time he took to the field in an old gold shirt was against Sheffield United – and that cameo could not have gone any worse for him.
He did not feature in the two games before that, against Newcastle United and Bournemouth.
Against Aston Villa and Manchester City, he came on in the closing stages for around five minutes each time and against Luton Town he was again an unused substitute.
The last decent involvement he had was against Liverpool on September 16 when he got a 30-minute cameo. His last league start for the club was the game before that against Crystal Palace.
Silva’s lack of game time in recent weeks feels very significant.
O’Neil has challenged the youngster a couple of times to work hard, and did say recently that he was pleased with Silva’s output in training.
But the opportunities still haven’t been forthcoming, with Matheus Cunha the clear choice for O’Neil to lead the line right now. Frustratingly for Silva, Sasa Kalajdzic is also ahead of him in the pecking order.
It was pretty damning that O’Neil only used four substitutes against Arsenal. Clearly, he didn’t feel £80,000-a-week star Silva was an option to put on instead of or as well as Kalajdzic at the end.
Given the reports of O’Neil wanting to sign a new striker in January, it is all feeling very ominous regarding Silva.
The player’s agent suggested in the summer that he had wanted out of the club, and Silva himself did hint that he could have gone.
It’s a hectic period now for Wolves and if Silva’s game time does not increase, then it’s surely impossible for him to stay beyond January.