Wolverhampton Wanderers confirm Fabio Silva loan switch to Anderlecht

Since moving to Molineux for £35m in 2020, Silva has been provided with a total of 62 appearances in all competitions.

Although 25 of those outings have come from the starting lineup, just 17 have come in the Premier League, the youngster netting just four times.

With Wolves potentially requiring a long-term replacement for Raul Jimenez at some stage in the coming years, the club's owners remain hopeful that Silva will eventually fulfil his potential at Molineux.

Nevertheless, Silva - who turned 20 years of age on Tuesday - will spend the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Anderlecht.

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Before his temporary exit from the West Midlands outfit, Silva extended his contract until 2026, with the club having the option to add another 12 months to those terms.

Speaking to the club's official website, technical director Scott Sellars said: "We've had lots of discussions between myself and Bruno [Lage], and with Fabio as well, about what we feel is best for his development, and we felt that a season playing regularly would be very good for him at this point in his career.

"He's only just turned 20 today, so he's still a very young boy and he needs a season of playing regular senior football in a competitive league so he can come back to Wolves stronger."

Regarding the new contract, Sellars added: "It was really important for us to sign Fabio to an extended contract before he went out on loan. As we're letting him go from the club for a year, we thought it would be best for everyone involved to secure his future to Wolves for a little longer.

"Fabio understands what we're trying to do, and this new contract and loan shows that we're working together to help him develop to be the best player he possibly can be."

The Portugal Under-21 international will be linking up with a club who have replaced the outgoing Vincent Kompany with Felice Mazzu.

Silva will challenge Benito Raman and Inter Milan loanee Sebastiano Esposito for a place in attack, with Joshua Kirkzee and Christian Kouame having returned to their parent clubs.

Anderlecht get their domestic campaign underway with a home fixture against KV Oostende on Sunday.