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Chelsea defender, Thiago Silva, has given a very honest and forthright interview in the wake of Chelsea’s Champions exit last night. The Brazilian defender gave the interview to journalists in his native language after the 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge last night and didn’t hold back.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the 38-year-old wasn’t shy to give his opinion when asked by Todd Boehly and the way he has gone about making transfers at the club since he took over last summer. The American has spent a whopping £600m on new players over the past nine months but has struggled to get players out of the door. The result is an inflated squad with many unhappy players.
Talking about the size of the squad and the future of the club, Silva said:
“The manager can only pick 11 from 30-something. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play. It’s a difficult moment for the club, with a lot of indecision. We had to increase the size of the changing rooms because it didn’t fit the size of the team.
A positive point is that there are amazing players within the squad, but on the other hand there is always players that are going to be unhappy. We need to stop and put a strategy in place, otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes.”
Silva’s own future
Thiago Silva offers an honest assessment of #Chelsea’s current situation / @beINSPORTS_AUS pic.twitter.com/poDvnLoV2u
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) April 19, 2023
While the Brazilian appears to have all the answers when it comes to the future of Chelsea Football Club, question marks will almost certainly begin to appear about his own future. The ex-PSG man did sign a year extension to his deal earlier this season but things can quickly change in football, especially with a new permanent manager coming to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Despite Silva still being an imperious defender, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the new manager, whoever that may be, decides to build his team around a younger defensive unit and makes the 38-year-old surplus to requirements. And even if he doesn’t, Silva may believe that the chaos at the club is something he doesn’t need at this stage of his career.
With only a year or two left of his playing career, it is likely that Silva will want to play in the Champions League next season. Not only is that not going to happen at Chelsea, but barring a freak end of the season, he won’t be playing in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League either.
Risking the wrath of Boehly
By openly criticising the Chelsea owner, Thiago Silva runs the risk of facing the wrath of the American billionaire. Just last week, Boehly reportedly went into the Chelsea dressing room to give the players a dressing down after their 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League.
Boehly told the players that they were embarrassing and had failed to live up to expectations and he may well consider another trip to see the players if results don’t improve in the coming weeks. While their season is now over, Boehly will likely want to keep an eye on which players are worth keeping around in preparation for next season.
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