Thiago Silva turned down ‘a lot of offers’ from rival clubs to join Chelsea because the Blues are in the ‘top 10’ teams in the world, according to the Brazilian’s agent.
The 35-year-old signed a one-year deal with the club earlier this week after leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of his contract with the Ligue 1 giants.
Silva has been one of the finest defenders in world football over the course of the last decade but few players excel in the Premier League having made a move to England so late in their careers, though Zlatan Ibrahimovic would beg to differ.
There are therefore doubts over Silva’s ability to play week in, week out in England but the Brazilian’s agent has hit back at those accusations and says the defender decided to join Chelsea because they are one of the biggest clubs in the world.
‘He is on holiday in Italy, he will be in London between now and the end of the week,’ Paulo Tonietto told L’Equipe.
‘He is happy to discover the Premier League. We had a lot of offers, but Chelsea are one of the world’s top 10 clubs.
‘Physically, Thiago can play for another 5 or 6 years at the highest level. He is an athlete who looks after himself. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t party. His life is home – work, work – home.’
However, Frank Lampard remains keen on making further additions to his squad and the club are confident of sealing a £72m deal for Bayer Leverkusen forward Kai Havertz this week.
The Blues will then look to address their goalkeeping problems. Lampard wants to sign a long-term replacement for Kepa but the Spaniard is content to stay at Stamford Bridge now following the defensive acquisitions of Chilwell and Silva.
