This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Football Insider, Wolves have been beaten to the signature of promising youngster Edson Silva by Sporting Lisbon.
What’s the word?
Earlier in the year, the same website had reported that the west Midlands club were pursuing the Portuguese talent after his standout performances for amateur side GC Alcochetense.
They also compared the young midfielder to Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, claiming his playing style is of a similar nature.
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These latest reports suggest that the Primeira Liga outfit have signed Silva on a three-year deal, also inserting a hefty £39m release clause should anyone such as Wolves come knocking on the door again in the future.
Alcochetense is located less than 20 miles from the capital city, so the move may be down to locality if it wasn’t for the club producing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, and Nani.
Big blow for Fosun
This news comes as a devastating blow to Wolves and their long-term ambitions to develop from within.
The 18-year-old is clearly very highly rated, and if he turns out to have half the career of Pogba, it would have been better than most in the footballing world.
Fosun have had so much success in recent times in recruiting young stars like Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves, mainly from Portugal, so this will be a slight notch on their record.
Are Gareth Southgate’s Aston Villa roots the reason behind the Wolves player in the video below being overlooked?…
Given the comparisons to Pogba, someone of this ilk may have been able to make the academy better and take it onto the next stage, especially as they are now faced with injuries to summer arrivals Meritan Shabani and Bruno Jordao, which may set them back a little further.
The youth setup is evidently moving in the right direction as even now, before a senior appearance has been made, Chem Campbell is attracting significant interest from some of the Bundesliga’s biggest clubs.
But these latest reports surrounding Silva will likely come as a major disappointment.
