Thiago Silva has thanked both Frank Lampard and Marina Granovskaia for bringing him to Chelsea.
Brought to Stamford Bridge on a free transfer after leaving Paris Saint-Germain in 2020, the 37-year-old has shown little sign of slowing down despite his advancing years.
After a difficult League debut against West Brom during Lampard’s time in charge, Silva has often defied logic to make such an impact in the Premier League for a player approaching 40.
A crucial figure as Thomas Tuchel’s side conquered Europe last season, the Brazilian international remains one of the game’s elite defenders and was awarded a new two-year contract back in January.
With the respective futures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen far from certain, the former AC Milan star looks like the one constant in the Chelsea defence.
Hugely impressive once again as Chelsea beat Lille in the Champions League round-of-16 on Tuesday evening, Silva moved to thank both Lampard and Granovskaia for making a move possible after he was cast aside by PSG.
“Man, I think I’m living a dream. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is,” he said to TNT Sports.
“Sometimes on the pitch we don’t listen so much, but as it’s the whole stadium, it’s something that gets very strong in my head. ‘Oh Thiago Silva, oh Thiago Silva’ at every moment, at every cut, at every beautiful play I make defensively. So that fills me with pride.”
“This shows not only what I’ve done in my career, what I’m still doing.
“So that makes me very happy. But at the same time it increases my responsibility to continue playing at a high level, to continue helping the team. I’m very flattered by all that I’m living, I believe I’m living one of the biggest dreams of my life.
“And I thank the people who were important for my arrival here, who were Lampard, Marina, in short, who put all this trust.”
