FIFA deny Foxes’ Adrien Silva appeal

FIFA, football’s governing body, has denied Leicester City’s appeal regarding the Adrien Silva transfer, meaning that the Foxes will be without the services of the Portugal midfielder until January. This is an enormous blow both to City, who believed Silva to be their replacement for the departed Danny Drinkwater, but also to Silva, whose hopes of representing his county in Russia next summer will be dampened by this setback.

On deadline day, City worked late into the night to finalise Drinkwater’s transfer to Chelsea and then complete the deal with Sporting to bring Silva to the King Power. Even with an extension, both deals took longer than expected to complete and in the end, the paperwork to register the 28-year-old as a Leicester player was submitted fourteen seconds too late.

Fortunately, City are not without options in the central midfield. In addition to regular starters Wilfred Ndidi and Matty James, Vicente Iborra and Andy King provide the Foxes with solid options off the bench. It would only take an injury or two to cause some worry, but for the time being, the failure to bring Silva into the fold falls short of being a crisis.

Silva has been given leave by manager Craig Shakespeare to return home to be with his expectant wife. City will continue to explore their options to find a resolution for both the team’s and the player’s sake.