Steve Bull: Fabio Silva's loan leaves Wolves thin on the ground
With Wolves working on a deal to send Fabio Silva on loan to Anderlecht, I think at the moment it’s the wrong time to go as we’re thin on the ground up front, especially if anything happens to Raul Jimenez.
I do think it’s good for a player like him to go away and get some experience and minutes under his belt – which will hopefully get him some confidence.
But for me, at this moment in time, he should be pushing in the Wolves team. If he wasn’t doing that by January, then send him out on loan.
We haven’t got a big squad. More players are going out than coming in and we might need him.
If he does leave, we definitely have to bring a striker in. We can’t keep solely relying on Raul, we need two or three up there.
But for Silva, if he gets one lucky goal off his shin it can kick him on. He hasn’t seemed to do that at Wolves and has a been a bit-part player that hasn’t been given a proper run – so this loan could do that for him.
He’ll hope to go over there and score some goals, a bit like Morgan Gibbs-White did at Sheffield United, and then return to Wolves a bit stronger and more streetwise for the Premier League.
I’d like to see Gibbs-White in the squad this season and I could see him playing as that third midfielder who can get forward.
Bruno Lage has faith in him and has seen him grown in confidence. Gibbs-White has learned some truths in the last few years and has matured over the last 12 months.
He’s versatile and could be a top-class player for Wolves. He left a boy and he came back from loan as a man and he’s now ready for the Premier League.
Finally, I am delighted to see Joao Moutinho staying at the club.
It’s time to keep his partnership going with Ruben Neves and add some life to the position with Gibbs-White or a new signing.
Moutinho’s experience is vital, you need it in the side. We need to build around the experienced players, like him, Conor Coady and Jimenez, to push on for next season.
