Dortmund, Leipzig face new challenges over Fábio Silva transfer

Both Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have shown interest in a move for 22-year-old Portuguese forward Fábio Silva. However, they face a new obstacle from Gestifute, as the price for a deal has gone up.

Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, frontrunners in the race to sign Portuguese international forward Fábio Silva, have paused on the idea of a move for the 22-year-old forward from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

Wolves, the Premier League club that Silva has been contracted to since 2020, have deferred transfer enquiries about him to Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes and Mendes’ agency, Gestifute. In the negotiations, Gestifute has increased the fee, thus leaving clubs that were heavily interested in a move quite upset.

Dortmund and Leipzig are not the only two teams interested; it has been reported that numerous clubs around the top European leagues were or are interested over the last few months, with another Bundesliga side, VfL Wolfsburg, also linked to him back in April. However, Silva turned down a move to Die Wölfe last week.

Silva arrived on a then-club record £35 million (around €40 million) transfer in 2020 and played sixty-two matches for Wolverhampton Wanderers between 2020 and 2025, scoring four times.

He was also on loan to RSC Anderlecht, PSV, Rangers FC, and UD Las Palmas, playing 76 matches in total and scoring on twenty-five occasions. He played 24 matches in LaLiga in 2024/25, scoring ten goals in the Spanish top tier and assisting on another three.