With every ineffective display, with every desperate dive, the clamour for Rangers to pursue a summer deal for a man who appears to have an unhelpful habit of rubbing people up the wrong way has diminished considerably.
It is not just the standard of his performances – lively upon his arrival but lacklustre now – but his antics which have done serious damage to his reputation north of the border.
Graeme Souness labelled Fabio Silva ’embarrassing’ following that 3-3 Old Firm derby draw; ‘Fosbury Fabio’ winning a dubious penalty after spending much of the afternoon rolling around like he’d been snipered.
Add that to Silva’s poor form in front of goal – he’s seven games without one, tripping over his own feet with the net at his mercy against Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final – and suddenly the £15 million fee Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly looking for appears to have the Rangers bosses running for the hills.
Rangers get cold feet over £15m Fabio Silva
According to reporter Peter O’Rourke, Rangers are now ‘very unlikely’ to pursue a permanent deal for the Wolves loanee. They have apparently ‘abandoned their plans’ to keep Silva on a long-term basis.
Understandably so, given that – for a rumoured £15 million (TEAMtalk) – Rangers could snap up a far more proven goalscorer such as a Bojan Miovski or a Lawrence Shankland.
Or, perhaps, a more natural wideman.
Silva, a striker by trade, has spent much of his time under Philippe Clement on the left wing. But despite a bright early start, the Portugal Under-21 international has been outperformed by the likes of Rabbi Matondo and Abdallah Sima in recent weeks. Oscar Cortes too, before his fellow January arrival as struck down by injury.
“I’d have loved to have got him at half-time and slapped him about,” former Rangers ace Derek Ferguson told the Open Goal podcast after Silva’s play-acting left a sour taste in the mouths of many during that Celtic clash.
“As a player, I hate that. That just does my nut in, that. The type of player that Clement was, he’ll not be happy with that. He’ll not want his players to be doing that sort of thing or reacting to a challenge.
“It was just far too often and I hate it personally. And I hope it’s not just left to the manager, I hope that some of the players go and get a grip of him.”
Read more: Rangers confirmed signings, transfers in and out, loan exits, releases for 2023/24
Only four goals in 20 games for Wolves loanee
Rangers may be keen to ship Silva back to Molineux, but a number of other players who joined Rangers on loan this season appear likely to be kept on. Budget permitting, of course.
Mohamed Diomande, the club’s most effective midfielder in recent weeks, has an obligation-to-buy clause in his contract. The twinkle-toed Cortes, meanwhile, did enough before his spell on the treatment table to suggest he should be retained too, while Rangers appear as adoring of Abdallah Sima as he is of them.
“This (Rangers) was the perfect team for me, you know, as a young player to get games and experience. Team-mates really help, (there are) some experienced players. So I’m really happy to be here,” Sima said recently, broadcast on Rangers’ official YouTube channel.
“I didn’t expect it, to have a season like this, to be honest. But I’m a winner and I want to win everything here. That’s why I joined the club. So I hope to give everything for this club and for the fans, because they deserve that.”
