After five years at the club, Fabio Silva finally left Wolves in the summer.
Wanderers cashed in on the Portuguese striker, who failed to live up to expectations at Molineux after a £35.6 million transfer in 2020.
Fabio Silva had numerous loan spells during his time at Molineux.
And the one he had last season with Las Palmas was his most productive, and ultimately helped Wolves recoup some of the money they initially paid for him.
In the end, Borussia Dortmund signed Silva for just under £23 million in total.
And it’s been claimed Wolves negotiated a sell-on clause for Silva’s next move, meaning a small windfall could arrive in the future.
Silva was rarely out of the gossip columns over the summer, and sporting director Sebastian Kehl has now shared how long Dortmund were actually in for him.
Sebastian Kehl shares details of Fabio Silva’s transfer from Wolves
Wolves did well to get around £23 million for Silva.
Such a fee would have been pretty unthinkable before his latest loan move to Las Palmas, and the inclusion of a sell-on clause was also good work by the club.
Ultimately, Wolves were able to sell for this figure because multiple clubs were interested.
It was Dortmund who won out, and their sporting director Sebastian Kehl has been speaking about how the move came to fruition. And he reckons his club snagged Silva for a fee that is ‘out of line’ with the current market.
He is quoted by Buli News as saying: “A transfer is usually the result of weeks, sometimes months, of work. We had been in close contact with [Fabio Silva’s] management since early July and convinced him of us. In the end, we got both players for a price that is completely out of line with the current market trend.
“Fabio Silva is a really good striker with a brilliant future. And this summer, he won’t even appear in the top 100 most expensive transfers worldwide!”
Some Dortmund fans aren’t happy Silva arrived with an injury, but there are still high hopes for his future, especially given the club’s success when it has come to signing strikers.
Kehl raves over Fabio Silva
Earlier this week, Kehl heaped praise on Silva after landing him from Wolves.
The 45-year-old said (via BVB Buzz): “Fabio Silva was already considered an exceptional talent at a very young age, has gained important experience in recent seasons, has matured both as a footballer and as a person, and yet is still a young player with potential for development.
“Fabio brings a lot of quality: goal threat, intensity, pace, and he can be deployed flexibly in several positions.
“All of this, along with the fact that he is a success-driven, hard-working striker, makes this transfer very valuable to us.”
There can be little doubt that Silva has matured in recent times.
To score 10 goals in La Liga is a good achievement, and he’ll now look to kick on in Germany with Dortmund.
He’ll also get a taste of Champions League football, which will be great for him in terms of testing himself against the very best.