Thiago Silva
PSG skipper seeks new challenge
After eight years, seven Ligue1 titles and numerous Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue victories, Thiago Silva is leaving Paris Saint-Germain in August – whether or not he adds a first Champions League trophy to that impressive haul.
Due to turn 36 in September, the central defender is set to say au revoir to the French capital in August, but admits he is not yet ready to return to his homeland and boyhood club. As he recently told Brazilian news outlet Caras: “Everyone knows the affection I have for Fluminense, but I still have goals to reach in Europe.”
One of a number of PSG players who were out of contract at the end of June, Silva – unlike his fellow South American, the Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani – happily agreed to a twomonth extension so he could skipper the side when the Champions League quarter-finals begin.
But those who know Silva best say he would definitely have signed on for longer if he had been asked and that he was “disappointed and saddened” to be leaving PSG. According to French radio station RMC, one such source said of his upcoming departure: “He loves PSG, he loves Paris, he sees it as heart-breaking, this decision, for him and his family.
“This season, he felt great before COVID-19. He was hungry and, even though he is 35, he is very fit and he has a hard time understanding this decision.”
However, sad as he may be to go, there will be plenty of new suitors ready and waiting to greet him with open arms. And they will be delighted to be picking up for free a man who became the second-most expensive defender in the world, behind Rio Ferdinand, when joining PSG for € 42 million in 2012.
Despite his advancing years, Silva still has plenty to offer. In the season just finished, he topped the Ligue1 chart for passing accuracy, with a 95.5 per cent success rate, and led his side to the league title, two domestic cup finals and the last eight of Europe’s top club competition.
The news that he is also willing to take a substantial drop on his current salary, believed to be over € 350,000-a-week, will not have gone amiss in these financially uncertain times. Arsenal were one of the first clubs to make their move, with manager Mikel Arteta said to have already made contact.
In fact, it has even been suggested, if somewhat tongue-in-check, that the year-long contract extension handed to the Gunners’ haphazard Brazilian defender David Luiz was done simply in an attempt to help lure his fellow countryman to North London.
“I still have goals to reach in Europe”