On 31 August 2017, Sporting agreed a £22 million fee for Silva to move to Leicester City, pending international clearance. The documents relating to his transfer did not reach FIFA until 14 seconds after the deadline; thus, he remained ineligible to play for the club until the next transfer window. In a statement on 24 October, Leicester chose not to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as it was made clear to them that "FIFA will not support an expedited process"; in an interview with "The Guardian" in March 2018, he said it was "a very poor decision" by FIFA, despite his appeals, to uphold his ban.