Wolves fans finally watch Fabio Silva leave the club permanently in the summer, and an interesting claim has been made about the Portuguese striker.
Fabio Silva finally brought to an end a five-year spell at Molineux, which included a number of loan spells.
It was a struggle for Silva, who later admitted he never particularly wanted to join Wolves in the first place. FC Porto needed the money and Wolves certainly helped the club out, paying over £35 million.
Silva never really threatened to become a success at Wolves.
He showed glimpses, but ultimately he made the move at the wrong time, being far too raw and inexperienced. He was arguably also mismanaged at times.
Silva joined Borussia Dortmund for around £23 million in the summer.
And now, an interesting claim has been made about the former Wolves man.
Fabio Silva declined higher salary offer from Roma to join Borussia Dortmund
Following a productive loan spell with Las Palmas, Silva found himself courting attention from several clubs in the summer.
That was good for Wolves, who were looking to entertain a bidding war in order to fetch the highest possible price.
In the end, the club did well to get £23 million for Silva, and Wolves also have a sell-on clause.
Interestingly, Sport Bild report today that Silva could actually have earned more money at AS Roma, who were another club trying to sign him.
Bild say Roma did present a concrete proposal to Silva, with a salary worth just over €5 million per year.
With Dortmund, Bild say Silva is earning around €4 million per year, so taking into account contract length, the player has effectively waived around €6 million in earnings.
It’s stated that Silva implored Wolves officials to accept Dortmund’s transfer offer, having had positive conversations with sporting director Sebastian Kehl and manager Niko Kovac.
Fair play to Fabio Silva
Silva should be commended for not making money the focus of his decision.
Clearly, he felt that Dortmund would be a better project for him in the long term and was happy to play for a lower basic salary.
No doubt if he shines then the bigger bucks will come. Not that he is earning poorly now, but certainly there is potential for Silva to bag himself a more lucrative contract if he develops in the way he should.
Silva has made a bright start at Dortmund so far and it will be really interesting to watch how he gets on in Germany.
His move to Wolves did not work out for many reasons, but he did leave the club in a respectful manner and hopefully he can show everyone who’s doubted him that there is a good player there.