Wolves Seal Record Fee For Silva, Eclipsing Raul Jimenez Deal

Wolverhampton FC has officially signed 18-year-old Portuguese player Fabio Silva, the club's first summer signing. He is one of the top prospects in football today, agreeing to a five-year deal worth roughly $46 million.

The new deal eclipses the $$40 million deal the Wanderers spent on Raul Jimenez in 2019. Ironically, Silva is expected to serve as the understudy of Jimenez who has been carrying the club on his shoulders following the exit of Patrick Cutrone, Sky Sports reported.

Silva had one league start with the Porto first team last season, scoring a lone goal in 12 Primeira Liga appearances. The signing was announced via the club's official Twitter account.

"Our recruitment team have been watching Fabio since he played for Portugal under-16s and they feel he has always been the best number nine coming through his age group anywhere in Europe," Wolves executive chairman Jeff Shi said.

There is a lot to expect from the 18-year-old player who has shown great technical ability and game intelligence that is pretty impressive for a player of his age. Fabio is showing promise and the Wolves are hoping to help him develop further under the guidance of Nuno Espírito Santo.

"Fabio has the potential to be a generational talent and for us to see him develop under Nuno is very exciting. He is the type of player our fans will love," Shi said.

The recent move comes not long after Silva signed a new deal with Estado do Dragao last November. That pact included a $148 million release clause. He made a good account of himself last season, scoring 33 goals in 39 games to lead Porto's U19 to UEFA Youth League glory.

Now he hopes to take it to another level and address the center midfield problems that the Wanderers are dealing with. Silva also becomes the ninth Portuguese player to join the Wolves. Rui Patrício, Rúben Vinagre, Rúben Neves, João Moutinho, Bruno Jordão, Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota and Daniel Podence were the ones who signed up before him.

The summer transfer window runs for 10 weeks. It started last July 27 and will formally close on Oct. 5.