Reece James has showered Chelsea teammate Thiago Silva with huge praise while wishing him a happy birthday.
Blues defender Thiago Silva, who turns 39 today, is the oldest outfield player in the squad by a considerable distance.
However, the £110,000-a-week (Spotrac) veteran centre-back continues to be a key player in the starting line-up.
He’s defying the odds year on year with his standards at the highest level, so it’s very surprising to hear he’s in his late-thirties.
Chelsea captain Reece James, 23, has congratulated Silva on his birthday this Friday. In fact, he’s thanked his senior teammate for his influence on and off the pitch.
“My brother, we’ve been through highs and lows, thank you for all you’ve done for me. Happy birthday big bro,” James wrote on his own Instagram story.
We’re pretty sure everyone in the Chelsea squad looks up to Silva as the example to follow.
For current players like James and Ben Chilwell, they’ll have learned so much playing alongside him in the Blues defence for the last few seasons. Incidentally, the three of them all started the Champions League final Chelsea won against Manchester City in 2021.
We’re not too sure how much longer Silva can keep going like his, so just keep enjoying him while you can.
We think there’s a big decision to be made in defence once Benoit Badiashile is back fit and ready to play.
The sensible long-term plan could be to try out Badiashile and Levi Colwill as a centre-back combination, but we can understand why you would still want the experience and know-how of Silva in a very young squad.
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