When Rangers signed Fabio Silva before the transfer window had even officially opened, there were a few questions asked about whether or not he was the type of player we needed.
Gers boss Philippe Clement has said before that he doesn’t care where the goals in his squad are coming for but, against Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday, we saw a glimpse of what the on-loan forward is capable of.
In a game where all of Rangers new recruits scored, it was Fabio Silva being used in a different position that is cause for excitement.
Rangers have new role for Fabio Silva
Despite Clement’s comments, he will be delighted to see all of his main attacking players chipping in with goals.
The three January acquisitions have hit the ground running but it is the use of Silva that is the most interesting.
The 21-year old posted decent numbers last season on loan in Belgium and the Netherlands but he has never been an out and out, prolific goalscorer.
And this is why there were elements of the Rangers support crying out for a more natural finisher, like Lawrence Shankland, to be signed.
Cyriel Dessers has cemented his place as the first-choice number nine but Silva has rarely looked like anything other than a neat and technically excellent player when he has either started or come off the bench in rotation with the big Nigerian.
Against Hearts though, he scored Rangers fifth starting from a deeper and more central number 10 role after replacing Tom Lawrence, playing alongside, rather than instead of Dessers.
In Todd Cantwell’s absence, Lawrence can’t be expected to play every game because of his own recent injury problems.
Against teams where we will dominate possession, there is no reason why Silva can’t play in this position instead.
He might be more attack-minded but there have never been any question marks about his work rate since he joined.
Everyone has bought into Clement’s philosophy of intensity and energy with Fabio Silva showing no signs of being someone who thinks that he is too good for Rangers or the SPFL.
Given the players that we have lost through injury, a goalscoring number 10 might be exactly what we need.
