Thiago Silva to leave Chelsea after four years at the club

Thiago Silva, the 39-year-old Brazilian centre back will leave Chelsea FC after spending four years at the club. The defender sustained a groin injury during Chelsea's last game against Aston Villa and is unlikely to play any more games for the club this season.

Silva joined Chelsea in August 2020 on a free loan from PSG and went on to win the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup for the club.

Regarded as one of the cult heroes of the club, Silva now wants to come back to the club in a different role. 

'I think in everything I did here over the four years, I always gave my all. But, unfortunately, everything has a start, a middle and an end. That doesn’t mean that this is a definitive end. I hope to leave the door open so that in the near future I can return, albeit in another role here," Silva penned an emotional message for the fans. 

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"Great pride to be a part of the Chelsea family"

Silva was the mainstay of the team during the last few years of the Roman Abramovich regime and saw change happening at the club. Silva had extended his contract in 2023 as his sons Isago and Iago were making progress at the Chelsea Youth system. 

'Chelsea means a lot to me. I came here with the intention of only staying for a year and it ended up being four years. Not just for me but for my family, too," Silva wrote.

'My sons play for Chelsea so it’s a source of great pride to be a part of the Chelsea family – literally because my sons are here. I hope they can continue their careers here at this victorious club that many players wish to be part of," he added.

"Obviously, when I started here, it was during the pandemic so there weren't any fans in the stadium. But through social media, it became something very special to me and then when the fans started coming back to the stadium and life was getting back to normal, I started to feel a lot of affection and respect for my story and for my start here," the Brazilian expressed.

With Silva's departure, there will be only two players Reece James and vice-captain Ben Chilwell left at Chelsea who went on to win the 2021 Champions League in Porto under then-coach Thomas Tuchel. 

After Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali's take over the club set an approach to singing younger players as more experienced players started leaving the club. 

"The way in which I came to the club, with the support of the club, I got to the club as a leader even though I didn’t feel like it having arrived as the new guy. It’s always difficult to integrate but bit by bit I became part of the group and (Frank) Lampard played a big part in that. I am grateful to him for that.

'[It’s been a] dream, definitely a dream. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I could achieve such great things and win one of the best professional titles, the Champions League, at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

'Goodbyes are for those that leave and don’t come back. I intend on coming back one day..."

Chelsea's current manager Mauricio Pochettino has started Thiago Silva in  22 of his first 24 Premier League games in charge. However, lately, he was used as a substitute. In March, he went unused in four consecutive matches as well. 

Silva made 151 appearances for Chelsea and scored 9 times for them while being one of the rocks at the back.