A few Rangers sites are trying to make a story from Fabio Silva, with a small number of fans suddenly warming to him and wanting to hold onto him.
Let’s be clear – this isn’t happening.
Philippe Clement has already confirmed the Portuguese attacker was too expensive to sign, so it had to be a loan, and with Wolves shelling out £35M on him, it’s plain to see Rangers can’t even offer a fraction of that.
And yet some Rangers sites are trying to make a story of supposed shock in that Rangers can’t afford that sum.
Well no kidding, right?
Silva hasn’t been a revelation since joining, he hasn’t shone a 10th of the way fellow January arrivals Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande have, and even they are still not quite up to full speed yet.
A few goals in recent displays have given fans a feelgood factor and some are now swayed in the direction of Silva as a permanent, but it’s a complete non-starter.
There is no option to buy, and we highly doubt Wolves would even take a 50% loss on this one never mind the 85% loss minimum they’d have to sustain for Rangers to be able to afford him, so financially-speaking it’s a complete dud.
There’s also the simple fact he looks nowhere near a £40M striker – he’s worked hard, and his recent goal was clearly his best, but there’s no case yet for Rangers to want to keep him permanently. If he keeps on improving then maybe, but still, not quite £40M is he?
Diomande and Cortes have already made strong cases (at much lower fees) inside a few appearances.
But nevertheless it hasn’t stopped clickbait sites using Silva and Rangers for a non-story.
What is the prognosis for the Portuguese?
Much like Abdallah Sima, he will go back to his parent Premier League club in the summer, unless said club in either case is willing to take a massive hit on the fee.
And even then, as we allude to, do we even want to keep either player?
It rests with Philippe Clement, but he’s not the one with the wallet.