Wolves braced for brutal £22m transfer loss as Serie A giants look to end striker saga
Wolves are thought to be looking to sell the third most expensive player in the club’s history this summer
Italian heavyweights AS Roma have emerged as serious contenders to sign forgotten Wolves forward Fabio Silva this summer, as they aim to bolster their attacking options.
Silva arrived at Wolves from FC Porto for a hefty figure of around £35m. He’s currently the third most expensive signing in the club’s history but hasn’t appeared for the Old Gold in the Premier League for nearly two years after spending time out on loan at Rangers towards the end of the 2023/24 campaign and more recently Las Palmas in La Liga throughout the full length of last season.
The 22-year-old showed signs of finally living up to his hype and potential in Spain, scoring 10 times in 24 matches while also contributing three assists. However, despite grabbing the winner against Barcelona and also finding the net against Real Madrid, he was unable to prevent Las Palmas from beating the drop and is therefore highly unlikely to return to the Segunda Division side.
AS Roma plot surprise move for Fabio Silva
Gazzetta dello Sport claimed earlier this week that AS Roma see Silva as a cost-effective option to improve their front-line next season. The capital club are managed by Gian Piero Gasperini, who has an excellent track record in Italian football after nine impressive seasons with Atalanta, including a Europa League winning campaign in 2023/24. Another Italian outlet, Corriere dello Sport, has since gone into more detail about Silva’s situation at Molineux and have claimed that he is ‘up for sale’ and evaluating his options for next season after struggling to settle in English football.
Wolves’ valuation of the striker is said to be 15 million euro (£13m) which represents a £22m loss on the figure they had paid for him in 2020. However, he’s been at the club for five years under four different managers - five if you include Vitor Pereira, who has only seen him briefly in training; and is still yet to make a lasting impression.
What next for Fabio Silva?
Silva has only one year remaining on his contract at Wolves and is likely to leave the West Midlands for a cut-price figure during the summer window. He’s only managed five goals and six assists in 72 appearances for Wolves during the last half a decade, with four of his goals coming in the top-flight. Silva has spent time on loan at Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers and most recently Las Palmas but has only hit the heights expected of him at the latter.
It seems unlikely that Silva will remain at Molineux unless Pereira decides to work with his fellow countrymen and potentially work him into the team as a possible alternative to first choice forward Jorgen Strand Larsen. Wolves have had to tread lightly in terms of Financial Fair Play and Profit and Sustainability rules in recent transfer windows, and are most likely to sell Silva to raise funds for incoming signings after a fairly quiet summer on the recruitment front thus far.