Fabio Silva has joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers on loan for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign.
The 21-year-old has been part of Wolves’ first-team group since returning to Molineux in the summer, but has found minutes difficult to come by, starting just three Premier League games, and none since September.
The striker’s only goal this season came against Blackpool in the Carabao Cup, with the loan to Scotland intending to change that, as Rangers go hunting for a first league title in three years.
Silva, who has five goals in 72 appearances in old gold, has previously benefited from loan moves away at Anderlecht and PSV, where he spent the first and second halves of last season, and will now look to develop further in a different league.
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs said: “This is a simple one – Fabio needs to play. He’s not getting enough opportunities here, so it’s a chance to go out and score goals and we’ll look at the future in the summer. Rangers don’t have a buying option, but hopefully he plays and scores goals and we’ll see where we’re at in the summer.
“He’s a young centre forward and because of his move, we sometimes think he’s older than he is. A lot of centre forwards take time to understand their game, find confidence and their role within a team. That comes with experience, and you have to play games. He played a lot at Anderlecht and was in and out at PSV, so it’s imperative he gets football now.
“It’s a big club playing in Europe, in a competition they had a good run in recently. Credit to Fabio, it’s a brave move because there was lots of interest and he could have stayed in his comfort zone, maybe with better weather than Scotland, or less competitive football, but he wanted to test him. It showed a good understanding of what he needs himself, so all parties are happy.
“In the summer we’ll sit down and see how it’s gone and make a decision on the next steps. I’ll go to watch him myself and he’s got some big games, so it should be a really good loan for developing Fabio.”
Now he joins Rangers, who face Celtic on Saturday and go into the clash five points behind their rivals, but with two games in hand.
