What should happen with Fabio Silva this summer is a fairly big talking point for Wolves fans.
The youngster has just completed his second season at Molineux, following his big-money move from FC Porto in the summer of 2020.
It has been a tricky two years for Silva.
In his first season, he played a lot more than was intended initially, due to the injury suffered by Raul Jimenez.
He was essentially thrown in at the deep end, because he arrived in England having hardly featured for Porto’s first-team.
In the season just gone, Silva had to play second fiddle to the Mexican for most of the campaign.
He started just six Premier League games in total.
To have gotten as few starts as that is actually difficult to understand.
Jimenez struggled quite a lot throughout 2021/22, and Silva did actually put in a number of good cameo performances.
Sadly, he went the whole campaign with scoring. That wasn’t great, but he could certainly have featured a lot more than he did.
Bruno Lage did admit back in April that Silva was a ‘victim’ of two situations; competing with Jimenez, and his tendency to substitute his wing-backs.
But it was clear that Silva was progressing. It is just about him discovering that ruthlessness in front of goal now.
And there was a suggestion earlier this week that Silva might soon come good in Wolves colours.
The youngster hit a hat-trick for the Portugal U21s against Liechtenstein. Granted, he’ll come up against much tougher opposition. But he still took his goals really well, showing excellent positioning.
Some feel Silva could benefit from a loan move. Perhaps he could, but surely the teenager deserves one last chance with the Wolves first-team.
Wolves shouldn’t loan out Fabio Silva this summer, but potentially in January
Silva should be kept around this summer, to see if he can build on his form for Portugal.
Wolves have invested a lot of money in Silva. If he is going to repay that fee and the club’s faith, then he needs to be given a fair amount of chances.
Few people are saying he should lead the line. But some are rightly suggesting he should start more games.
Perhaps he could even start up top with a partner in 4-4-2 system, as Lage used at Benfica.
It feels as though his time could be coming, and Wolves should keep the faith a little longer. The club can always see where he’s at in January, and decide if a loan move then would be more beneficial.