Explaining Leicester’s difficulties getting Adrien Silva a transfer

Three years on from the Portuguese midfielder’s disaster transfer to Leicester City, Adrien Silva is still on the Foxes’ books. So why hasn’t he gone yet?

Adrien Silva is not a lucky man. Back in August 2017, the Portuguese star seemed the ideal candidate to remedy the stark lack of creativity in Leicester City’s midfield. Infamously, the centre midfielder’s transfer documents reached FIFA 14 seconds late, ruling Silva ineligible to play until the next transfer window in January. Foxes fans’ anticipation for the creative midfielder’s debut was tangible, and the four months of added pressure can’t have been beneficial to the Euro 2016 winner.

Silva quickly fell out-of-favour with Craig Shakespeare and following boss Claude Puel (due to no fault of his own), while current boss Brendan Rodgers recently told the Portuguese international he’s free to leave. Most shockingly, Silva has only been afforded 14 appearances for the Foxes in his three years here, and it’s fair to say that he hasn’t been given a fair chance at the East Midlands Club.

From here, the 31-year-old’s fortunes have only worsened. A loan spell at Monaco looked like it might have reignited his career, but was unfortunately cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the midfielder’s back on the books at Leicester City, but breaking into the first team ahead of stars James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet seems an impossible task.

Transfer issues explained

You might that think that after being deemed surplus to requirements over two years ago now, Silva might have secured himself a transfer away from the East Midlands. Unfortunately, as ever, things are far from easy for the Portuguese playmaker. Title-winning Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri is apparently an admirer and wants to bring the midfielder to his current club Sampdoria, but the ‘number of agents’ surrounding the player is proving to be a key stumbling block, according to reports from Sports Witness.

What’s more, at 31 years-of-age with very little game time under his belt, Silva might prove a hard sell to many clubs unless he’s willing to take a wage cut. At £80,000 a week, the forming Sporting Lisbon man is the joint-fifth highest earner at the club, level with fellow outcast Islam Slimani. This puts him ahead of first team mainstays Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi and Çağlar Söyüncü, and only behind Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, James Maddison and Jonny Evans.

Verdict

While FoL believes that Silva is a quality player that was never afforded a real chance to prove himself, an outbound transfer from Leicester is definitely overdue. The Foxes’ midfield creativity has gone from their greatest weakness to one of their strongest assets, with new man Cengiz Ünder only set to bolster this.

City’s first team squad is pretty much nailed on for this season, and Rodgers now looks set to jettison fringe players and clean up Leicester’s wage structure. A transfer away seems in the best interest for both parties- hopefully, Silva will endure some better fortune wherever he ends up.