Wolves forward Fabio Silva continues fine start to Anderlecht loan spell with first European goal

Seb Sternik
4 August 2022

Anderlecht enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 victory in their Europa Conference League qualifying clash, with on-loan Wolves forward Fabio Silva getting on the scoresheet.

The 20-year-old scored the second goal of the game as the Belgian giants powered past Paide Linnameeskond - a side known as Estonia's Barcelona.

This is the second goal in three games for Silva who was on target against Oostende in the club's first match of the season. It's also his first strike in a European competition.

The Wolves forward only played a total of 55 minutes in his first two league outings for Anderlecht, but the match in Estonia marked his first start for the club.

Silva played 79 minutes as Anderlecht secured a two-goal advantage ahead of next week's second leg.

The Portugal under-21 international recently signed a new deal with his parent club, which secured his future at Molineux until the summer of 2026.

Fábio Silva 🇵🇹 scores his first-ever goal in a European competition, Lior Refalov made it too easy for him! @Silva_Fabio @LiorRefaelov8 #PAIAND #RCSA #UECL pic.twitter.com/JlJRToYT6N
— R.D. Football Scout (@RdScouting) August 4, 2022

Upon the loan move, Wolves 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.

"We saw with the performances of Morgan [Gibbs-White] last year how much of a positive impact a loan can have on a young player, so we believe it's the right step in his development to follow the same path."

Since joining Wolves from Porto back in 2020 for £35million, Silva has made 63 appearances in gold and black. However, less than half of those were in the starting XI.

The player has also contributed with four goals during his time at Molineux.