Wolves striker Fabio Silva has signed a new one-year contract at Molineux and joined Belgian club Anderlecht on a season-long loan.
Silva, 20, joined Wolves for a club-record fee in September 2020, with his former club Porto saying the transfer was worth £37million.
But the Portugal youth international has struggled to become a first-team regular, making only 17 Premier League starts in two seasons and scoring four goals.
Wolves technical director Scott Sellars told the club website: “We’ve had lots of discussions between myself and (manager) Bruno (Lage) and with Fabio as well, about what we feel is best for his development, and we felt that a season playing regularly would be very good for him at this point in his career.
“He’s only just turned 20 today, so he’s still a very young boy and he needs a season of playing regular senior football in a competitive league so he can come back to Wolves stronger.
“We saw with the performances of Morgan (Gibbs-White) last year how much of a positive impact a loan can have on a young player, so we believe it’s the right step in his development to follow the same path.”
Silva’s new deal ties him to Wolves until the summer of 2026, with the club holding an option for a further year.
Sellars said: “It was really important for us to sign Fabio to an extended contract before he went out on loan.
“As we’re letting him go from the club for a year, we thought it would be best for everyone involved to secure his future to Wolves for a little longer.
“Fabio understands what we’re trying to do, and this new contract and loan shows that we’re working together to help him develop to be the best player he possibly can be.”
