Fabio Silva is the latest striker to be linked with a move to Celtic in January with the timing of the Asian Cup ensuring a shift in priorities.
With Japan and South Korea expected to advance beyond the group stage of the 24 team competition there is a real prospect of Celtic being without strikers going into February with the final scheduled for February 10.
After the winter break Celtic return to a home Scottish Cup tie against Buckie Thistle on January 21 then host Ross County in the SPFL on January 27 before things get much more demanding.
Aberdeen away on February 3 followed by a visit to Hibs four days later will provide two tough tests even for a full strength squad before a Scottish Cup tie on the weekend of February 10.
Going into those matches with Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Oh Hyeon-gyu wipes out three striking options, beyond that Luis Palma or Liel Abada could play as a striker but neither has much experience in that position.
Great things were expected of Silva as he emerged from the Porto Academy but moving to Wolves during Lockdown has halted his development, at the age of 21 time is running out to pick up on his early potential.
Portuguese publisher O Jogo reports:
Fábio Silva is preparing to leave Wolverhampton when the market reopens and the forwards future should involve Scottish football, where he is competed by Celtic and Rangers, the two giants from Glasgow who are involved in a derby known as the Old Firm.
The 21-year-old player has other teams interested, namely from Spanish football, but, at this point, the two Scottish teams, first and second in the local championship, are at the front of the race, according to O JOGO.
Fábio Silva, remember, was hired from FC Porto in 2020 for a fee of 40 million euros, but he never managed to impose himself on the Wolves team and this season he only played 372 minutes and one goal for the English team.
As happened last season, Wolverhampton is available to let go of the under-21 international, loaning him out again. In 2022/23, Fábio Silva played the first half of the season at Anderlecht and from January at PSV Eindhoven.
After two disappointing loan spells at the sort of clubs where he should expect a decent share of chances Silva and his agents will have to be very careful over his next choice of club.
On paper a move to Celtic should be ideal for most strikers but Kyogo’s scoring slump illustrates that having 70% or more possession doesn’t always mean chances and plenty of goals. From the interview below it is clear that the striker is looking to win a place in the Portugal squad for next summer’s European Championships in Germany.
During the summer no strikers were signed by Celtic despite seven permanent moves backed up by two loan deals.
With three starts in the EPL plus five appearances off the bench the Portuguese striker won’t be completely rusty, getting him in on loan rather than spending upwards of £5m on Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby might carry more appeal with three strikers returning at some stage in February.
CLICK HERE for Silva’s Transfermarkt profile.
CLICK HERE for Celtic linked to SPFL goalkeeper.
