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Fábio Silva (footballer, born 2002)
Portuguese footballer (born 2002) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Fábio Daniel Soares Silva (born 19 July 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Portugal national team.
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Silva made his professional debut for Porto in August 2019, and set several club records relating to his young age, while winning the Primeira Liga and Taça de Portugal in his only season. He then signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers for a club-record fee, and was loaned to Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers and Las Palmas, winning the KNVB Cup with PSV in 2023.
Having represented the country since under-15 level in 2017, Silva made his senior international debut for Portugal in 2024.
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Club career
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Early career
Born in Gondomar, Porto District, Silva began his career at Porto before transferring to rivals Benfica in 2015, then returning two years later. Silva was part of the squad that won the 2018–19 UEFA Youth League.[3] With 20 goals in 26 games for the under-19 team by February 2019, he was called up by manager Sérgio Conceição to train with the first team.[4]
Porto
He made his Primeira Liga debut for Porto on 10 August 2019 in a 2–1 loss at Gil Vicente, playing the final eleven minutes in place of Otávio;[5] at 17 years and 22 days, he surpassed Bruno Gama as the youngest league player in the club's history.[6] On 19 September against Young Boys in the UEFA Europa League group stage, he became the club's youngest player in European competitions, beating Rúben Neves.[7] Six days later, he became the club's youngest starter in any competition when he lined up against Santa Clara in the Taça da Liga group stage, beating a record held by Serafim Pereira since 1960.[8]
On 19 October, Silva scored his first goal to conclude a 5–0 win at neighbouring Coimbrões in the third round of the Taça de Portugal; with this goal he surpassed Neves as the youngest goalscorer in the club's history, by a month.[9] Eight days later, he beat the same player's record as Porto's youngest league goalscorer in a 3–0 home win over Famalicão.[10] On 10 November, in a 1–0 win at Boavista in the Derby da Invicta, he became the youngest league starter in the club's history, a record held since Serafim's days.[11]
On 9 February 2020, Silva dropped into Porto's reserve team in LigaPro, debuting as a starter in a 1–1 home draw with Farense, as one of three appearances at this level.[12] He made two further appearances for Porto's first team following the resumption of the league after the coronavirus-enforced shutdown as the club won the league title.[13]
Wolverhampton Wanderers
On 5 September 2020, Silva moved to English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers in a five-year deal for a club record fee[14] of a reported £35 million.[15] He made his full club debut on 17 September 2020 in an EFL Cup defeat to Stoke City;[16] four days later he made his Premier League debut as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 home loss to Manchester City.[17]
Silva scored his first two goals in a Wolves shirt for the under-21 team in a 2–1 away win over Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Trophy on 10 November 2020.[18] His first league start was in a 1–0 home defeat against Aston Villa on 12 December,[19] and eight days later he scored his first league goal through a penalty in a 2–1 away loss against Burnley.[20] On 16 January 2021, Silva scored his first goal from open play and his first goal at Molineux for Wolves against West Bromwich Albion in the first Black Country derby of the 2020–21 season.[21]
Silva made his first start for Wolves in the 2021–22 Premier League season in a 2–1 away win over Brentford on 22 January 2022, due to Raúl Jiménez missing the game through injury.[22]
Silva scored his first goal for Wolves since 3 May 2021 in a home EFL Cup game against Blackpool on 29 August 2023, a match that Wolves went on to win 5–0.[23]
Loans
On 19 July 2022, Silva joined Belgian club Anderlecht on a season-long loan, as well as signing a contract extension with Wolves until 2026 with the option of a further year.[24] Five days later, he scored on his Belgian Pro League debut against Oostende after coming off the bench in a 2–0 win;[25] he finished his spell in Brussels with 32 games and 11 goals in all competitions.[26]
The agreement with Anderlecht was terminated on 25 January 2023 and Silva was loaned out to Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven until the end of the season.[27] On 30 April, in the final of the KNVB Cup, he came on for Luuk de Jong at half time of extra time in a 1–1 draw with Ajax; he then scored the winner in the penalty shootout.[28] Silva ended his spell under manager Ruud van Nistelrooy with 19 games and 5 goals.[26]
On 1 January 2024, Wolverhampton sent Silva on loan to Scottish Premiership club Rangers until the end of the 2023–24 season; he was the first signing by Philippe Clement.[29] He made his debut against Kilmarnock as a second-half substitute the following day.[30] Silva scored his first goal for Rangers in a 3–0 home victory over Livingston on 3 February.[31]
Silva joined La Liga side Las Palmas on a one-year loan deal on 30 August 2024.[32] Three months later he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory away to Barcelona, defeating the league leaders at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys during their 125th anniversary celebrations.[33]
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International career
Silva had his first international experience with Portugal's under-15 team in 2017. He was part of the under-17 team that reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 UEFA European Championship in the Republic of Ireland, scoring in a 4–2 group win over Iceland.[34]
On 11 October 2019, Silva scored a hat-trick for the under-19s in a 4–1 friendly win over Italy in Bragança.[35]
In November 2024, having scored three goals on loan at Las Palmas, Silva was called up by senior international manager Roberto Martínez for a UEFA Nations League match against Croatia, with Pedro Neto having returned to Chelsea after helping the country qualify for the quarter-finals.[36] He debuted on 18 November in the 1–1 away draw, and Martínez praised him as offering a different style of play to Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota or Gonçalo Ramos.[37]
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Personal life
Silva's father Jorge was a defensive midfielder who won the league in 2001 for Boavista and was capped twice by Portugal, and his older brother also named Jorge played that position for Lazio.[4]
Career statistics
- As of match played 19 April 2025[38]
- Includes Taça de Portugal, FA Cup, Belgian Cup, KNVB Cup, Copa del Rey
- Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
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Honours
Porto Youth
Porto
PSV
Portugal U16
- Montaigu Tournament: 2017, 2018
Individual
References
External links
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