Thiago Silva is set to extend his stay at Chelsea by another year.
Chelsea fans unanimously rejoiced at the news that Thiago Silva is set to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge, but the decision also begs questions about their recruitment in recent months. The ageing Silva is still one of the Blues’ strongest performers despite the club having splashed huge amounts of money on some of Europe’s most promising defenders.
The Brazilian has been a smash hit since making his first foray into English football in 2020. Silva was 36 years old by the time he landed but he has still gone on to rack up more than 100 appearances for Chelsea, becoming a fan favourite in the process.
With less than half of the Premier League season remaining, Silva is one of manager Graham Potter’s most reliable players in the centre of defence. The club’s hierarchy have seemingly taken the decision to keep him around for another year amid reports that terms for a contract extension have been agreed.
While that will come as good news for Potter and the fans, Silva’s superiority in the back-line highlights a related issue surrounding an area which has been peppered with big-money deals since co-owner Todd Boehly began his frivolous transfer spree.
From the start of the summer window, over £400million has been spent on new talent but Chelsea remain frustrated and in mid-table. A huge chunk of that money was splurged on defensive signings, including Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Benoit Badiashile.
Combined, the talented quartet have set Chelsea back just shy of £200m. All four of them have the capability to play in central defence but Silva remains the stalwart at Stamford Bridge while others battle with complications.
Cucurella has struggled to get out of first gear since ditching Brighton for the Blues in a big-money deal, with the Spaniard looking equally uncomfortable in a back-three as he does on the left flank. Chelsea fans remain unconvinced and he could have a tough time seeing regular minutes once Ben Chilwell recovers from injury.
Fofana was the Blues’ most-expensive summer signing of all, arriving from Leicester in a £75m deal, but injuries have blighted the early stages of his career in west London. Koulibaly is an experienced head but he is also on the wrong side of his 30th birthday, and recent games have seen him demoted to the bench to make way for Badiashile.
With Boehly still relatively new to the job, there remains plenty of time for Chelsea’s wave of defensive recruits to prove their worth. It remains to be seen whether Potter and co are still reliant on Silva in 12 months’ time, when he will be approaching 40.
Despite a rocky start under new management, Chelsea have kept two successive clean sheets against Crystal Palace and Liverpool. Potter is in the midst of a two-week rest period with his team out of FA Cup and Carabao Cup contention, during which he has a golden opportunity to put in work on the training pitch.
SOURCE: express.co.uk
