Fabio Silva’s club record transfer to Wolves is being investigated by the Portuguese authorities.
Wanderers paid Porto 40 million euros for Silva last summer when he was just 18 and enduring a tricky first season. In order to fill in for the talismanic Raul Jimenez – who spent the majority of the campaign alongside a head injury – he managed just four goals in 32 Premier League matches.
As part of a major operation investigating agents’ problems, the transfer of Fabio Silva from Porto to #Wolves is being investigated by Portuguese authorities.
EUR 7 million of the fee went to Gestifute and EUR 3 million to STV, a company belonging to Fabio Silva’s father. [Correio da Manhã] pic.twitter.com/rF3ytzDVnI
– Talking Wolves (@TalkingWolves) July 27, 2021
He hopes to be able to justify his price tag this season, but things have not started best. As reported by Correio da Manha (via the mirror), the deal that brought Silva to England is currently under investigation.
The authorities want to see why Porto did not receive a larger part of the transfer fee of EUR 40 million. They were due to a profit of about 30 million euros after the agency fees had been deducted. The 10 million euros went to 7 million euros for GestiFute – which is owned by the infamous super agent Jorge Mendes – and 3 million euros for STV, a company run by Silva’s father.
But in a financial report, Porto claimed that they only earned 25 million euros on the deal. This has led to questions about where the remaining 5 million euros have gone.
The investigation is part of a broader investigation into the transfer culture involving Porto and rivals Benfica, called Operation Red Card. Recently, Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira was placed under house arrest for suspected tax fraud and money laundering.
The missing EUR 5 million is not the only irregularity in the Silva deal. A payment of € 500,000 to PP Sports – owned by Pedro Pinho, who is under investigation by the Portuguese public ministry and the tax authority – from Mende’s company also raises questions.
Silva will try to improve this time-out / Fran Santiago / Getty Images
The situation is ongoing but there is still no indication that wolves, Porto or Silva will be punished. This is good news for Wanderers, who will start their Premier League campaign away in Leicester on Saturday 14 August.
