The ever-improving Fabio Silva, who had one of his best 90s in Rangers’ shirt at Easter Road on Sunday, has confirmed he’s happy at Ibrox and would like to stay permanently if something could be done.
Following on from some recently-notable displays for his loan club, the Portuguese striker had a strong showing for sure in Lisbon in midweek, before following it up with another in Edinburgh, with these improved performances demonstrating his versatility with current positioning as an auxiliary winger.
Speaking after the cup triumph, the 20-year-old said:
“I’m loving being here. I don’t control these things 100%. It’s not 100% my decision to stay, if it was up to me then maybe yes. But I could say ‘yes’ and then you have a lot of things still to be taken care of. Perhaps I have the least input into whether I stay here but we have two months to enjoy the football, to win titles and I think after that, if we win trophies and everything goes well, Rangers and I will do everything for me to stay. When you see me playing with a smile on my face, I think everything’s going the right way. I enjoy playing here, playing for the fans, the staff, my team-mates. It’s a pleasure to be here. I enjoy it a lot. I’ve been trying to get back my happiness and they’re giving me that.”
Silva of course scored the vital second to completely knock the stuffing out of Hibs once and for all, and it was the latest step in his continued improvement and development as a player.
Unfortunately, for Rangers to make this deal permanent a LOT of work would need doing, as the player himself admits, and Wolverhampton Wanderers would have to basically write off £35M that they invested in Porto for the hitman’s services.
Has Silva earned Rangers’ dedication to trying the impossible and securing the forward?
It’s too early to say that, he’s only really started to motor in the past few matches, and while impressing more, he’s not quite glittered and shone to the extent that he’s indispensible just yet.
But he is proving a much more useful tool than he appeared in January, and if that trajectory continues, maybe Rangers will try to secure a devastating signing of keeping him here permanently.
But that really all depends on Wolves.
The ball is very much in their court.