The 24-year-old's first season in Dortmund fell short of his own hopes. Used most often as a substitute, the Portuguese forward managed 1,181 minutes across 39 appearances, contributing three goals and seven assists.
Saturday's 1-2 defeat to Bayern Munich followed the same pattern, with Silva introduced from the bench before getting himself on the scoresheet.
He was unable to hide his true feelings about his role at BVB afterwards.
"Of course I want to start more games. I want to be an important part of the team. If I said otherwise, I'd be lying. I always tell the truth," Silva said, according to Sky Sports.
"It's important for me that I feel important. I want to play more. Everyone can see that when I played last season, I helped the team with assists," he continued.
"I'm not a normal number nine. I'm a bit more of a nine-and-a-half. I can create assists, move well and score goals. I have a lot of qualities, and everyone can see what I'm capable of."
The Portugal international was linked with Real Betis earlier in the summer, though the La Liga club ultimately opted to sign Troy Parrott from AZ Alkmaar instead, having found Borussia Dortmund's valuation too steep to meet before the deadline. More recent reports have instead pointed towards interest from Trabzonspor as a possible destination.
Silva signed a contract with Dortmund running through to 2030 when he arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers last year, and head coach Niko Kovac has consistently maintained that the forward is not for sale, insisting he must fight for his place behind first-choice striker Serhou Guirassy.
Whether that stance survives the closing days of the transfer window, with Silva's frustration now voiced publicly, remains to be seen.
Kovac addressed Silva's situation directly a few weeks ago, explaining the club's thinking around squad depth. He noted that the players who delivered Dortmund's success the previous year had shown real quality, meaning new arrivals naturally required patience, even when they had been signed for significant fees — but stressed that the transfer fee alone did not guarantee anyone a path to regular football.
Silva's underlying numbers offer some support for his own assessment of his game. His combination of pace, movement into wide areas and ability to link play has long marked him out as a more all-round forward than a conventional target man, a profile he reiterated after Saturday's defeat.
Whether that profile is best utilised at Dortmund, competing with Guirassy for minutes, or elsewhere, now looks set to be one of the defining questions of the closing days of the window.