Now a Portuguese international, the young Fabio Silva is reborn from his ashes

This Monday, Portuguese striker Fabio Silva played his very first minutes in the ranks of the national team, during the match between Croatia and Portugal.

A few months ago, few people still believed in an international future for Fabio Silva. After several particularly complicated seasons, explained in particular by a hasty transfer to the Premier League at just 17 years old, the young Portuguese striker seems to have finally found his balance.

A first in selection for Fabio Silva

A career is partly made up of opportunities. Over the past few days, Fabio Silva has had one to grab, in the ranks of the Portuguese national team. Summoned at the last minute by Roberto Martinez, in order to compensate for the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo, Pedro Neto, or even Bernardo Silva in the offensive sector, the young Portuguese striker was also able to take advantage of the injuries of Gonçalo Ramos and Diogo Jota to make his big debut under the colors of the Seleção.

The one who already has more than 25 appearances with the Espoirs has thus been able to reach a new milestone in his career. Fabio Silva had the opportunity to play nearly twenty minutes during the match between Croatia and Portugal in the Nations League. A timid first appearance, with which he will most likely be content, after having known much less happy days.

The end of the desert crossing?

Just a few months ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Fabio Silva wearing the colors of the main selection. For good reason, the young Portuguese striker has had a series of difficult experiences, while he has still not established himself within the club to which he belongs. Arriving in Wolverhampton against his will at the very end of summer 2020, when he was only 17 years old, the player trained at FC Porto had several adventures abroad without really convincing.

The Porto native was first sent to Anderlecht, before playing for PSV in the Netherlands, to finally settle down in Glasgow and wear the blue jersey of Rangers. Since the start of the season, the player has found color in Las Palmas, where he finally seems to have found his place.

The Fabio Silva machine is relaunched

8: this is the number of starts that Fabio Silva has just had in the Spanish championship. An almost unprecedented series for this young player accustomed to the sidelines, which can be explained by the success displayed in the yellow jersey. Over this period, Fabio Silva has three goals and an assist to his account, which makes him the team's second most decisive player in the league, behind his teammate Sandro Ramirez.

Through his atypical journey, marked by great hopes and his share of failures, Fabio Silva has developed at his own pace. “I started very early, I had to learn things much faster. Maybe I wasn't in the best of circumstances, but that's one of the things we can't control. I think that everything I had to overcome, the ups and downs, made me a very complete player, able to adapt, to play in any type of system. Today, with what I have experienced, few things can affect me negatively. I use my past to progress and I will continue to do so because my career is still long”he recently declared on the DAZN channel.

Credit photo: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images