When Wolverhampton Wanderers signed 18-year-old Fabio Silva from Porto for a club record £35m fee in 2020, it was supposed to be a statement of intent from the club.

Fast forward over two years and Silva hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype surrounding him when he joined the Old Gold.

The striker now finds himself on loan at Belgian side Anderlecht, making the move after signing an extension to his current contract.

Former manager Bruno Lage was obviously showing a degree of faith with this temporary move, but the stark reality is, Silva has yet to prove he is worth the fee Wolves shelled out for him.

Silva has rinsed Fosun for two years

His first season at Molineux saw the player feature in 37 matches in all competitions, scoring just six times. However, this could maybe be written off as a youngster acclimatising to a new league, but expectations would have heightened ahead of last season.

Bruno Lage couldn’t get the best out of Silva either, as he scored just once all campaign, and it wasn’t even for the senior team as he netted in the Premier League 2.

After two full seasons, Silva has scored just six times - all while earning £80k a week - and these stats are nowhere near close enough to justify the hefty wage he is currently on.

Over the 104 weeks Silva was at the club before his loan move to Anderlecht, Fosun have been rinsed for a grand total of £43.3m - his £35m transfer fee plus £8.3m in wages - and unless he seeks a permanent move away, they are likely to keep paying that until 2025.

Former Wolves midfielder Jamie O’Hare dubbed the striker as “shocking” at the end of his first season at the club and his goal tally justified the criticism.

His loan spell in Belgium is, however, proving to be quite fruitful for the player, scoring nine goals in 22 matches, could this finally be the season where he lives up to his potential - albeit in a league of a much lower standard than the English top flight?

There is still a long way to go yet, but if he does keep up this impressive scoring rate, there might be a future for him at Wolves - although that could depend on who the club's new manager is.