Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - We'll kick off, I think it's appropriate
00:10 that we start off with Rangers, Martin,
00:13 given that they have already made
00:16 their first January transfer signing.
00:19 Before the windows even opened,
00:21 they brought in Fabio Silva
00:23 on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
00:27 Felipe Clamont certainly keen to get his business done early.
00:31 Of course, there are currently just a few points
00:34 behind Celtic in the title race.
00:36 That can all change depending on the old firm Derby result.
00:40 But how important do you feel that it was for Clamont
00:43 to make a real kind of early statement of intent?
00:47 - Yeah, and I mean, what a statement.
00:51 Obviously Silva's not even come close
00:53 to hitting the ground running at Wolves.
00:55 So they were keen to get him out on loan,
00:57 but a real significant financial commitment here by Rangers
01:02 in terms of the wages that they're gonna be paying them
01:06 until the end of the season,
01:07 or what we understand the sort of level of wages
01:10 they're gonna be paying.
01:11 It certainly looks like he's immediately
01:14 the highest earner at Ibrox,
01:16 probably by some way now, you would think.
01:21 - Yeah, is it a bit risky maybe
01:23 on an unproven commodity, as it were?
01:26 He's obviously got bags of talent,
01:29 no one's denying that, and you would certainly,
01:31 but yeah, I think he's gonna be
01:34 a really good signing for them.
01:35 You do wonder with the whole Lawrence Shankland thing,
01:40 and you could go out and invest in a proven commodity,
01:43 and instead you're sort of taking a risk on a reputation,
01:49 which is maybe not the right word,
01:50 but the sort of promise of how good a player
01:54 Fabio Silva actually is.
01:56 But yeah, as much as clubs in England
02:01 throw stupid money at players
02:03 and don't really need to worry about flop signings,
02:05 I don't think you spend 35 million pound
02:09 on a teenager at the time
02:12 if he's not something a bit special.
02:16 So yeah, and I think for Rangers to get him,
02:18 there would have been quite a lot of competition
02:22 if all Wolves were looking for was,
02:25 I mean, let's be honest, a relatively modest loan fee
02:30 and the full paying of his wages,
02:33 which again, not insignificant wages,
02:34 but there would have been clubs across Europe
02:37 just as capable of taking that wage on board.
02:40 So you have to believe they've fought off
02:42 quite significant competition to get him.
02:47 - Yeah, and that's a real,
02:49 that probably says a lot,
02:51 not just about how much of a draw
02:53 going to play for Rangers is,
02:55 but how convincing Philippe Clement is
02:59 in terms of players coming to Glasgow.
03:03 - Yeah, I'm led to believe myself
03:05 that he did have quite a bit of interest
03:07 from clubs in Italy.
03:08 I know Freiburg and the Bundesliga
03:11 were one of the clubs interested,
03:12 and as you know, and Mons are the other two in this area.
03:16 So yeah, clearly a talented operator.
03:20 We know he was kind of came through the Benfica Academy
03:23 before joining Porto.
03:26 He's Porto's youngest ever player
03:29 to appear in a European competition.
03:33 And it's obviously fair to say that he's kind of
03:36 had featured kind of sporadically for Wolves
03:41 since he made that move three years ago.
03:42 I think he's accumulated about 60 Premier League appearances
03:46 but do you feel,
03:48 the fact he's decided to remain in the UK,
03:51 now we know that Clements obviously had a big say in this,
03:55 also the new football director recruitment,
03:58 Niles Koppen, who worked with Silva during his time
04:02 on loan at PSV Eindhoven.
04:04 So do you feel staying in the UK is an interesting one
04:08 because do you feel he kind of wants to prove
04:10 that he can adapt to the kind of British style of play?
04:14 I don't know about that
04:17 because the Scottish Premiership's a very different style
04:20 to the English Premier League, isn't it?
04:22 I imagine more,
04:24 like the appeal of Rangers is probably that he's going to go there
04:27 and have a real shot at winning trophies,
04:30 like a real shot at a league title,
04:32 a national cup and he's going to get to play in the Europa League,
04:35 which I imagine not every club that might have been interested
04:40 in signing him could have offered that,
04:41 like you mentioned Freiburg in Germany can't offer continental football to him
04:45 and that's got to be a big thing.
04:47 The sheer number of matches he's going to get to play with Rangers
04:51 and the level he's going to get to play at
04:53 and the stage he's going to get to prove himself on,
04:56 yeah, I think being at Rangers,
05:00 in terms of staging, there's going to be more of an eye on him,
05:05 like there will be British media outlets
05:09 picking up the big Rangers matches,
05:12 so I think he's going to be much more still at the forefront
05:14 of the attention of fans south of the border
05:18 playing for Rangers, especially old firm matches
05:21 and like I said, Europa League football.
05:23 Damn, yeah.
05:24 (MUSIC)
05:27 (MUSIC)
05:30 (MUSIC)
05:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]