Chelsea’s Silva returning to hometown club Fluminense

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian defender Thiago Silva announced on Tuesday that he will rejoin hometown club Fluminense when his Chelsea contract expires at the end of the season.

“I’m coming home,” the 39-year-old Rio de Janeiro native wrote on X, accompanied with a video of him wearing the shirt of his boyhood club Fluminense.

Silva will join the Copa Libertadores champions on a two-year deal, with Chelsea allowing the centre-back to begin training with Fluminense prior to his registration transferring.

“He always played for your badge, as a true Blue legend. Thanks for all the love you gave for our champion, @Chelseafc. Pride of London. Now it’s time to come back home. Rio awaits you,” said Fluminense on X.

“The player will arrive in Rio de Janeiro to join the squad led by coach Fernando Diniz in around a month’s time,” Fluminense said in a statement.

“The defender won’t be able to play for the club until July 10, when the international transfer window opens.”

Silva first joined Fluminense’s academy as a youth but was forced to move away in order to find first-team opportunities.

He returned to the club in 2006 and won the Copa do Brasil, before joining Italian outfit AC Milan in 2009.

During his career in Europe, Silva won league titles with Milan and Paris Saint-germain, as well as the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.

“O Monstro” (The Monster), as Silva is nicknamed by Brazilian fans, represented his country 113 times and won the Copa America in 2019.

Chelsea paid homage to the former Brazil national team captain on its club website: “He has also forged a lasting bond with Blues supporters and was named the club’s Player of the Year at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.”

Chelsea host Bournemouth in their final match of the season, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side seventh and fighting to finish in a European place with three league games remaining.

Meawnhile, Chelsea are reportedly in talks to complete the signing of another Brazilian wonderkid in Palmeiras winger Estevao Willian. The 17-year-old has emerged as the next name linked with a move from South America to Europe in recent months.

The Blues are understood to have tracked his progress in Brazil for some time.