Nuno: Fabio Silva could play for Wolves U23's
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has not ruled out letting record signing Fabio Silva play for the club’s under-23s ‘as long as it makes sense’.
The 18-year-old £35million striker came on for the final few minutes of the 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Friday night.
He has only started once in gold and black, though, and – after Vitinha played for the under-23s in a 2-1 loss to the Eagles’ development side at Selhurst Park last week – Nuno admits he could feature under James Collins’ outfit at some point to get more game time under his belt.
“It’s exactly the same. We can see it was a good game for Vitor (Vitinha) and Owen (Otasowie) to be involved in, Oskar (Buur) also involved. If we consider that it’s a good moment for Fabio, we will do so,” said Nuno.
“It’s always about the individual – looking at the individual, looking at the moment, what team we’re going to face, and the risks given the small squad we have.
“It’s a situation that’s useful, as long as it makes sense and it can help the player to improve.”
Wolves U23s are in action today at Aggborough, taking on Fulham in Premier League 2 Division Two (2pm).
Vitinha – who, like Silva, came from Porto – may be involved again after being left out of the first-team squad against Palace but seen doing running drills on the pitch afterwards.
Ki-Jana Hoever, signed from Liverpool in the summer transfer window, is another who has played for Collins recently, having starred against Bradford City in the EFL Trophy.
On Vitinha’s experience with the under-23s, Nuno said: “The back-ups of the under-23s train with us on a daily basis.
“So we’re preparing a team with the help of the under-23s and James and the technical staff, it’s a common work – we work together in that situation.
“For Vitor, it was good, because the shape is the same and the routines are the same, and he has 90 minutes under his belt now.”
Nuno, meanwhile, has hailed the role Romain Saiss has had in helping Rayan Ait-Nouri settle at Wolves.
Ait-Nouri shone on his debut on Friday, scoring against the Eagles, and Nuno added: “He has a big help with Saiss, a big help.
“His English must improve. He has the basic words, but Saiss is helping us hugely in terms of communication.”
