It’s no surprise to Chelsea supporters on Monday evening when the club officially announced that Thiago Silva had signed a contract extension.
The 37-year-old Brazilian who has been immaculate in the middle of Thomas Tuchel’s back-three this season will remain at Stamford Bridge until the end of the 2022-23 season.
With 22 appearances to his name, this term Silva has shown no signs of slowing down and remains one of European football’s best defenders. In the process of this deal, it probably spoke to Silva’s brilliance that Marina Granovskaia was so willing to offer the defender an extension given his age.
It had become Chelsea’s modus operandi when negotiating contract extensions with players over-30. The limit would be rolling one-year deals usually confirmed at the end of each season.
It did not matter whether you were club icons Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole or John Terry. The rule remained the same.
Terry in 2016 appeared set to depart when it looked like Chelsea were not going to offer the club captain an extension before eventually doing so that May.
Most recently, Willian and Pedro departed at the end of their deals. With the club refusing to bow to Willian’s demands of a three-year contract, Granovskaia stretched out the boat to offer the winger two years. He refused and eventually switched to north London in 2020, which he now regrets.
But Silva’s overall class and quick ability to settle since his arrival in August 2020 after leaving PSG has made him a fan favourite.
“I never thought I would play for three years here in this great club, so I’m very happy to stay for another season,” said Silva to the club website.
To play here with Chelsea is a real pleasure. I’m going to give everything to keep playing at this level in the most important league in the world.”
A bit like how PSG helped gift the Blues Thomas Tuchel after dismissing him a month before moving to London, Silva’s exit from Paris has equally benefited Chelsea.
Thiago’s wife Belle effectively broke the news of this contract back in November on her Instagram, replying to someone stating, “We still have a few years here”. She, like Thiago, has made her love for life in London clear, sitting with fans in the West Stand Lower back in May when Chelsea beat Leicester.
A player who spent most of his career in Italy and France, Silva has fit perfectly into the culture at Stamford Bridge. He did score a goal that knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League back in 2015.
Silva’s level of pedigree and maturity harks back to the leadership Terry brought in his later years under Jose Mourinho. Despite clearly lacking pace as the game got quicker, his mind kept him one step ahead.
For Silva, it is similar, bringing a level of calm execution to his defensive work whilst raising the level of those who play around him in Tuchel’s trio.
Even before Tuchel implemented the 3-4-2-1, Silva had clearly helped to raise the level of Lampard’s defence. Partnering Kurt Zouma in the autumn of 2020 with the Frenchman reaching his best run of form for the club.
With Marina Granovskaia still having to resolve the future of Silva’s defensive peers in Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta, securing Silva’s presence at Cobham until 2023 is truly wonderful news to start 2022.
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