Wolves sign teenage striker Fabio Silva from Porto for record £35.6m
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Silva made his debut for Porto aged 17 after a run of 20 goals in 26 under-19 matches
Wolves have broken their transfer record to sign 18-year-old Fabio Silva from Porto for £35.6m.
The striker, the youngest player to represent Porto in the league, has signed a five-year deal at Molineux.
"Our recruitment team have been watching Fabio since he played for Portugal Under-16s," Wolves chairman Jeff Shi said.
"They feel he has always been the best number nine coming through his age group anywhere in Europe."
He added: "Fabio is a young player who shows not only incredible technical ability, but also his game intelligence for a player of his age is top class.
Silva made his debut for Porto in August 2019 aged 17 years and 22 days.
Wolves' previous record signing was Raul Jimenez from Benfica for £30m in 2019.
Wolves, who played a Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla on 11 August, begin their Premier League season at Sheffield United on Monday, 14 September.
Analysis
Simon Stone, BBC Sport
This is a major piece of business for Wolves.
To put it into context, the fee is roughly twice as much as Borussia Dortmund paid for Norway striker Erling Braut Haaland. It will put Fabio Silva alongside Moise Kean as one of the 10 most expensive teenagers in the game. Anthony Martial is the only teenager to come to the Premier League for more.
However, after spending big on ready-made stars that have transformed the club from Championship hopefuls to a side capable of recording two seventh-placed Premier League finishes in a row, now Wolves are looking to the future.
Silva arrives at Molineux with an impressive reputation. But chairman Jeff Shi knows that there are no guarantees the 18-year-old will reach the levels his last couple of years at Porto have threatened.
However, Shi feels he is consolidating the club's future, just as he was doing when he spent rather less - £1m - on Rochdale's Luke Matheson in January.
Of course, few clubs can even think about spending that amount of money on a player - let alone a teenager, but it underlines the view of the Wolves hierarchy that they went to avoid the boom and bust scenario which can sometimes happen to clubs who rise quickly.
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