Fabio Silva has scored again tonight for Anderlecht, a day after Wolves lost their opening Premier League game of 2022/23 to Leeds United.
Bruno Lage’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat at Elland Road.
The manager was unable to field a recognised striker in west Yorkshire, with Raul Jimenez sidelined for several weeks with a knee injury and Silva out on loan.
Hwang Hee-chan was the man to lead the line against Leeds.
He did fairly well, and assisted Daniel Podence for the Wolves goal.
But it was clear Wanderers were missing a natural front man to link play and provide a cutting edge.
Before Jimenez got injured, Wolves had already taken the decision to loan Silva out.
That was a risk, because no one came in at the same time to replace him.
It would have been very interesting to see if Wolves would have pulled the plug had the Jimenez injury occurred before hand.
What’s done is done though, and Silva is now in Belgium – and he’s made a really good start.
Tonight the 20-year-old was making his fourth appearance for the club, and only his second start.
It was a comfortable 3-1 win for Anderlecht over Seraing, with Silva scoring the third goal.
And it was another really well-taken effort, with the star gathering a low cross before swivelling and finishing low and hard at the near post.
Wolves right to loan out Silva, but a striker should have been signed much sooner
Wolves were still right to sanction a loan move for Silva ahead of 2022/23.
It is just frustrating that the club did not bring someone in to replace him when he left.
There was always a risk heading into the new season with just one centre-forward.
Thankfully, it seems as though Goncalo Guedes will become Wolves’ second signing of the summer, with John Percy reporting the player will have his medical tomorrow.
Hopefully, Silva can continue this rich vein of form for as long as possible.
To play as many minutes as possible is what Wolves want. But scoring goals will give the young star a big confidence boost.