With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo’s gushing praise did Andre Silva more harm than good.
In the summer of 2017, the then-Real Madrid superstar namechecked his 21-year-old protégé when discussing the future of the Portuguese national team. With this prolific, penalty-box prowler, Ronaldo insisted, the Iberians had plenty to look forward to, even in a post-CR7 era.
“When I retire, Portugal will be in good hands because they have already found a great striker: Andre Silva,” the country’s all-time record goal-scorer told Gazzetta dello Sport, via Goal.
But it is only now, four years on, that Silva is starting to perform, week in, week out, like a player capable of stepping into the shoes of arguably European football’s greatest ever goal-scorer.
After a disastrous spell at AC Milan and a loan spell at Sevilla which promised much but delivered little, the former Porto wonderkid is in the form of his young life over in Germany.
Serie A leaders Milan don’t make many mistakes in the transfer market these days but selling Silva for just £9 million – a £24 million loss – looks a questionable decision now.
Silva managed 12 Bundesliga strikes in the whole of 2019/20 during his debut season with Eintracht Frankfurt.
This time around, he has 14 in 17 starts already; his fourth brace of a stunning campaign coming in Saturday’s 5-1 thumping of Arminia Bielefeld.
It was a double Ronaldo himself would have been proud of; both efforts guided with laser-like precision into the top corner.
After Silva channelled his inner-Cristiano with two emphatically-taken penalties against Mainz earlier this month, Frankfurt coach Adi Hutter wasted no time in drawing a comparison with another 21st century great.
“His composure on penalties reminds me of Robert Lewandowski, who always turns ice cold,” said the Eagles boss.
With West Ham United scouring all corners of Europe for a striker capable of taking Sebastien Haller’s place in David Moyes’ squad, no one will be surprised to learn that Silva has fired his way onto a sprawling ‘shortlist’ (Mail).
Of course, Hammers fans may have reservations about the potential arrival of another big-money striker from the Commerzbank Arena, with Haller’s haunted expression still fresh in their minds.
But while Silva might never step out of Ronaldo’s shadow at international level, he is finally starting to realise his vast potential in the club game.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
