Rangers manager Philippe Clement has secured his initial signing, bringing in Wolves forward Fabio Silva on a season-long loan.
The Portugal Under-21 international, who set a club record with a £35.6 million transfer in 2020 at the age of 18 from Porto to Wolves, is set to join Ibrox on January 1 when the transfer window opens.
Despite the substantial initial investment, Fabio Silva has not made a substantial impact at Wolves.
Expressing his excitement, Clement stated that he is pleased to welcome the “highly-rated striker” to Rangers, emphasizing Silva’s valuable experience in both English and European football.
And Silva, 21, said: “I am very happy, when I spoke to people about Glasgow and about Rangers, everyone told me good things about the club and the history.
“I played here once with Porto in the Europa League, so I already know the warm club, the environment and the stadium, so everything is perfect.”
Clement, who took over as manager in October following the dismissal of Michael Beale, is dealing with the prolonged absence of Danilo due to injury and fitness concerns with striker Kemar Roofe.
With these challenges, Silva’s addition will strengthen Clement’s attacking choices as Rangers aim to narrow the gap with Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic and progress beyond the Europa League last 16.
In the previous season, Silva had loan stints with Anderlecht in Belgium and PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands, netting 15 goals in 46 appearances. While under contract with Molineux until 2026, Wolves have the option for an additional year.
Despite making 10 appearances for Wolves this season, Silva’s only goal came in the EFL Cup against Blackpool in August, and he has not started a league game since September 3.
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs mentioned that Silva chose Rangers amid substantial interest from other clubs.
“This is a simple one – Fabio needs to play,” added Hobbs, who confirmed Rangers do not have an option to buy.
“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.
“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 himself.”