Earns more than Neto: Nuno messed up with Wolves’ flop, whose worth has plunged £24.1 million

The team loaned away the big-money Old Gold acquisition in January.

Since their return to the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo at the end of the 2017/18 season, Wolverhampton Wanderers have not been afraid to spend money on new players.

They paid over £44 million for Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha, who had been on loan with the club throughout the second half of last season.

The 24-year-old virtuoso has nine goals and six assists in 24 Premier League matches for the Old Gold this season, indicating that he is on track to justify his signing cost.

However, not all of the club’s high-profile arrivals have been a resounding success, with Goncalo Guedes, Patrick Cutrone, and Fabio Silva all struggling after signing for large sums.

Silva, in particular, has struggled since his move from Porto; the centre-forward, who earns more than current first-team star Pedro Neto, has seen his worth collapse in recent years.

Wolves paid a price for Fabio Silva

Nuno Espirito Santo, the former Wolves manager, rushed to buy the 18-year-old rumoured wonderkid from Portuguese giants Porto in the summer of 2020.

The club paid a club record cost of £35 million for the teenage marksman, which was £5 million more than their previous record purchase of £30 million for Raul Jimenez in 2019.

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi stated that the club’s recruitment team believed Silva had been the finest number nine in his age group in Europe since U16s, and that the forward had the potential to be a “generational” player.

He has made 21 appearances for Porto’s first squad by that point, scoring three goals and assisting twice.

During the 2018/19 season, the gifted player also scored five goals and assisted four times in nine UEFA young League outings for the Portuguese club’s young squad.

It was thus a tall order for the 18-year-old to hit the ground running in the Premier League for Wolves after arriving to England for a record amount at such a young age and with little first-team experience.

Silva struggled during the 2020/21 season, finishing with four goals and three assists in 32 top-flight appearances for Santos.

The Portugal U21 international followed that with a terrible record of 0 goals and zero assists in 22 Premier League games the next season.

This meant that the former Porto superstar scored four goals and assisted three times in 54 league games for the Old Gold during his first two seasons in England, averaging one goal contribution every 7.7 matches.

This prompted Wolves to loan him out to Anderlecht and subsequently PSV for the 2022/23 season, since they did not believe he was worthy of a spot in their first-team squad.

Silva scored 11 goals and four assists in 32 matches for the Belgian club in the first half of the season, before returning with five goals and two assists in 19 appearances for PSV in the remaining five months of the season.

Fabio Silva’s current market value.

At the time of writing (10/03/2024), Football Transfers estimates his Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at €12.8 million, or around £10.9 million.

This means that his market value has dropped by an incredible £24.1 million from the £35 million that Wolves paid to sign him from Porto in the summer of 2020, indicating that the club made a mistake with that purchase.

His xTV has declined dramatically in recent years as a result of his poor on-field performance following a club-record move to the Old Gold.

Gary O’Neil gave him an opportunity to restart his career in England during the first half of the season, but Silva squandered two ‘huge chances’ and failed to score or assist in eight Premier League matches.

He squandered his opportunity to impress the English tactician and was loaned out to Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers during the previous January transfer window.

As shown in the table above, the 21-year-old attacker has struggled since moving to Scotland, scoring two goals and missing four ‘great chances’ in nine Premiership matches.

These statistics do not indicate that his form or market value will improve anytime soon, emphasizing how disastrous Nuno’s signing was in 2020.

How much does Fabio Silva earn?

According to Salary Sport, Silva now makes £42k per week, up from £37k during his first two years with the English club. According to Football Insider, Wolves are paying the’majority’ of his salary during his loan term at Rangers, but it is unknown how much the Scottish club is covering.

According to Salary Sport, the Portuguese washout is presently making more than Old Gold star Pedro Neto, who is claimed to be paid £39k per week.

If this is so, the lightning-quick winger has reason to be upset because he has been influential on the field for the club, whereas Silva has been loaned out owing to his lack of contribution.