Wolves comment: Fabio Silva shows he can shine with a bit of polish

But, truth be told, the club-record signing played a big role in sealing an emotional victory in North London.

Introduced in the wake of Raul Jimenez’s head injury – watching the man he has been brought in to learn from, and eventually succeed, taken away on a stretcher – it was far from a straightforward task.

And that would have been the case for any player, let alone an 18-year-old who to that point had only 51 minutes of Premier League action under his belt.

Jimenez’s condition was and very much still is the main concern of us all, although he is making ‘excellent’ progress after surgery on a fractured skull

But Silva was given quite the test – having to display both character and class against high-quality opposition – and, ultimately, he passed it.

While not directly involved in the goals the way his fellow attackers were, the £35million buy regularly linked up play effectively.

Amid all the uncertainty felt at the Emirates Stadium while Jimenez went to hospital, the Portuguese managed to bring about a sense of calm.

Pedro Neto, as has so often been the case in 2020/21, was the real stand-out player in gold and black – displaying bundles of skill going forward and a fantastic desire to help out defensively as well.

Daniel Podence did brilliantly for his goal and Adama Traore was the best he has been in a while – and Silva worked well with them all. There was just a nice flow.

Of course, he will have done countless drills with those players at Compton, but taking that work into matches is far easier said than done.

Credit must go to the former Porto striker for how he adjusted in difficult circumstances.

Given the complex nature of Jimenez’s injury, it is not known how long he will be out for.

Nor does it really matter at this time either – the main thing is he returns home healthy and able to enjoy the company of his young daughter, Arya, with him predicted to leave hospital next week.

As club doctor Matt Perry said, what he needs now is ‘space, rest and peace’.

Wolves, though, are heading over to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool on Sunday, and Silva has boosted his chances of a first top-flight start.

Jimenez will be hugely missed, make no mistake, and Nuno Espirito Santo could well decide to go with a ‘false nine’ at Anfield – a bit like last season when Neto was up front alongside Diogo Jota, who is now on a prolific run for the Reds.

But if Silva is the one called upon, it would absolutely be fair enough as, despite being a signing with the future firmly in mind, he proved against Arsenal he has a part to play for the here and now.

Sure, there are many things for him to work on – the immense physicality of the Premier League probably being the key area to consider – however, there is a lot to like about the young man hailed as a potential ‘generational talent’ upon his arrival on a five-year deal in September by chairman Jeff Shi.

Playing for the under-21s at Doncaster in the Papa John’s Trophy a few weeks ago and scoring both goals to win the game 2-1 was a clear indication that he has the right attitude.

After all, the Keepmoat Stadium on a Tuesday night is not exactly where you would expect to find a record signing and he could have thought he was above it, but he grasped the opportunity with both hands and celebrated both strikes like Champions League final winners.

It remains a key point not to expect too much too soon out of Silva as Jimenez’s goal record and all-round contributions over the past few years have been world-class.

If the teenager can take what he did against the Gunners and put in similar performances over the coming weeks though, he will certainly be on to something good.