I couldn't actually find anything optimistic after a quick search though. This 2017 study just looked at the biological viability of the eye, not function:
And indeed, a popular article from a few days ago has this quote:
> “Whole eye transplants in animal models have shown that a whole eye transplant is surgically feasible, in that the tissue can be transplanted and major blood vessels and nerves can be reconnected, and the graft can survive in the short term,” [ophthalmologist Yvonne Ou] said. “However, no models have demonstrated restoration of vision, which is a major challenge to the field.”
My guess is that the OP article is just wrong, possibly because they confused corneal and retinal transplants (which can restore some vision) with whole-eye transplants.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5417899/
And indeed, a popular article from a few days ago has this quote:
> “Whole eye transplants in animal models have shown that a whole eye transplant is surgically feasible, in that the tissue can be transplanted and major blood vessels and nerves can be reconnected, and the graft can survive in the short term,” [ophthalmologist Yvonne Ou] said. “However, no models have demonstrated restoration of vision, which is a major challenge to the field.”
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/news/did-surgeons-just-transp...
My guess is that the OP article is just wrong, possibly because they confused corneal and retinal transplants (which can restore some vision) with whole-eye transplants.