Rangers: Manager who thought Fabio Silva was ‘spoilt’ wants Wolves loanee to thrive at Ibrox
Robin Veldman is backing Fabio Silva for success and wants him to be happy at “such a big club” as Rangers.
The former Queens Park boss, who once had the loanee during an interim spell in charge at Anderlecht, told the Scottish Sun (12 March) he used to think the “arrogant” Portuguese forward was “spoilt” but detailed his affection for the youngster and hopes he continues to do well at Ibrox.
The 21-year-old is now on his third loan since being signed by Wolves for £35million as a teenager [Sky Sports], with Veldman admitting the forward was on “insane” money as a result, but once he saw past the image of a kid who had been given too much too soon he came to like Silva a lot.
The Dutchman, who has now returned to the Netherlands after his time in Glasgow, said: “Outside of the pitch he can appear arrogant. You can see with his tattoos and how he looks and behaves, there is a cockiness.
“Fabio is confident in what he wants and how he sees things. He can come across as cocky. But it is from a good heart and I like him very much.
“My first impression of him at Anderlecht was he was a spoilt young kid with too much ambition, too young with too much money. Wolves paid massive money and his wages for his age were insane.”
But more recently he added: “When Fabio moved to Rangers we had some text conversations. I really hope he can be happy with such a big club. I am confident Fabio has a big career ahead of him.”
Fabio Silva proving doubters wrong at Rangers after huge early Molineux move
The Ibrox loanee’s career path suggests that Wolves did splash out on the ex-Porto youngster before he was ready, as his five goals in 72 appearances for the Premier League side is clearly not what they would have hoped for after that investment.
But following moderately successful spells at Anderlecht and PSV he is now impressing under Philippe Clement.
His early January arrival proved to be the only signing to address the injury crisis at striker, despite him not being an out-and-out number nine.
While his goals won’t come close to the heavily-linked Lawrence Shankland’s he has shown more as a number nine than might have been expected during a strong run of Rangers form.
And now with Abdallah Sima and Oscar Cortes both ruled out on the left his versatility to play out wide has proven fruitful as well.
Were it not for the huge price tag that continues to follow him around his reputation might be stronger than it is, but as a midseason loan he is proving a useful addition at Ibrox currently.
In other Rangers news, a senior player’s Ibrox exit is now set to be sealed at an event held in Europe next week.
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