Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Fábio Silva’s ended his temporary stay at Anderlecht in January and then completed a loan move to PSV Eindhoven the same month.
The 20-year-old struggled for regular game time last season, which saw the English side send him out on loan to the Belgian club.
He had a good spell at Anderlecht, managing 11 goals and four assists in all competitions. The Wolves owned player managed one goal and an assist since October and the dip in form came after Felice Mazzu left the club.
Silva struggled under Brian Riemer and that convinced him to leave the club in January. His father, Jorge, gave an interview to Gazet van Antwerpen to explain what went wrong for the Portugal U21 international at the Jupiler Pro League side.
“I am giving this interview because people also need to know our version of the facts. For that we have to go back to the beginning. Last season, Fabio played far too little at Wolverhampton. That’s why we convinced Wolves to loan him out,” he said.
“That was anything but simple, because the Chinese owner wanted to keep my son on board. It is therefore important that the fans know that we chose Anderlecht and not the other way around.
“For three months we studied which club would suit him best. We came to watch Anderlecht matches – including the cup final against Gent – and decided that this was the ideal project for my son. We contacted the scouting cell.”
Silva Sr reveals Anderlecht wanted to build a team around his son, but that changed after the new manager arrived late in 2022. Fabio was also subject to criticism for his display in the 1-1 draw against Club Brugge last month. After that tie, rumours started to surface that the Wolves attacker had a clash with Riemer.
“Where does that actually come from? Who declared in the Belgian media that there was a clash? We didn’t and I don’t think it came from the club,” Jorge explained.
“The board has always been cordial with us. Only that so-called discussion was picked up everywhere in the Portuguese press, so my son was portrayed as a bad boy. I cannot accept that lies are being spread about Fabio. My son is not perfect, but he is a good guy.”
Fabio’s father admitted Anderlecht made it difficult for him to leave them for PSV in the winter market.
“Not easy. He could’ve also gone to Burnley, but PSV was the best option. It was logical that Anderlecht made it difficult to find an agreement, but in the end we succeeded,” the Wolves player’s father stressed.
“We also thought about the financial picture. Fabio was an expensive rental player whose wages they still had to pay for six months. That is now gone and by letting them know in time, the club had time to look for a replacement.
“Again, we have nothing against Anderlecht or against coach Brian Riemer, but this had to be said.”
