Rangers have handed Celtic a pre-Old Firm blow by beating their eternal rivals to the loan signing of Wolves attacker Fabio Silva.
Both sides of the Old Firm were mentioned as Fabio Silva suitors in the week leading up to the transfer, with Rangers boss Philippe Clement securing his first signing on Thursday.
The Belgian manager and new Director of Recruitment Nils Koppen are said to have been key to the deal, as is Rangers’ qualification for the Last 16 of the Europa League.
But whilst Celtic reportedly start to tell friendly journalists that they opted to pursue other targets, opening the door for the Rangers move, the talk in Portugal suggests different.
Fabio Silva was a Celtic target
Portuguese outlet A Bola – who are close to the agent who brokered the deal – claim that Celtic were also interested in the latest addition to the Rangers squad.
They’re not the only ones either, with O Jogo, who broke the story during the week, claiming Celtic were interested in bringing Fabio Silva to Parkhead.
This is in stark contrast to a report in the Scottish Sun, which claimed that “Hoops sources” told them they’d “decided to pursue other targets instead”.
Whilst we’ll leave you to make your own mind up about that, the entire thing is superfluous anyway given Fabio Silva is now a Rangers player.
Not that he’ll be able to face off against the Parkhead side this weekend – transfer registration rules means Rangers must wait to January 1st before the striker can officially join.
Rangers pip top clubs to sign attacker deal
Fabio Silva has also been talking about turning down other clubs in an excited interview with the Rangers’ official media channel RangersTV.
Claiming that there were other transfer options on the table, the striker claims that Rangers are the “best team” in Scotland although he doesn’t mention our Old Firm rivals specifically.
“Everyone knows I had other options from other clubs, but when I saw the option to come to Rangers on loan I was very happy,” said Silva. “It was my first option straight away.
“I like to win titles, play at big clubs and feel the pressure straight away and to play in big competitions. To come here, for me, when we spoke about Scotland for me Rangers was the best team here.
“So I want to be here, to play with the fans and for my teammates and to win titles – that is the most important thing.”
Rangers and Celtic were also not the only sides interested in Fabio Silva, with earlier reports suggesting five Bundesliga sides had made enquiries to Wolves.
There was also mentions of interest from Spain and Italy with Fabio Silva at one time considered amongst the best young players in Europe.
