Thiago Silva made a judgment on Erling Haaland whilst playing for Paris St Germain and might want to revisit his words if they become Chelsea teammates.
His comments arose last February before he was due to do battle in the Champions League knockouts with Haaland and Borussia Dortmund.
Silva left PSG that season to join the Blues and may be followed by the striker he went toe-to-toe with last year.
The Athletic reported that Chelsea want to make the striking sensation their priority signing this summer.
Prior to their first-leg bout, all eyes were on Haaland after the then 19-year-old had scored nine goals in six group games with RB Salzburg.
The PSG captain acknowledged his startling statistics, telling RMC Sport:
“He scores a lot of goals,” Silva said. “Nine goals in six games, it’s incredible, it’s huge.
“I hope that we will be able to be cautious and that he will not score against us, but rather after in the league.
“But for us it’s wonderful to play against a player like that, especially since he’s just started his career. He is very motivated, but so are PSG.”
Unfortunately, Silva’s prophecy did not come true. Haaland netted twice as Dortmund won 2-1, becoming the youngest player in the competitions history to reach 10 goals in a single campaign.
Even more damming on the experienced defender was that he claimed he and the PSG players were not panicked by Haaland’s form.
“Are we afraid? We have no fear, but we have a lot of respect,” he added.
Dortmund would be overcome in the second leg, as the French side navigated their way to the final with Silva as skipper.
However, Haaland had already stamped his name on the footballing map, hence the major interest from Chelsea among other European heavyweights.
Silva turns 37 this year but Chelsea has an option to extend his contract, meaning he may well be sharing a pitch once again with the Norwegian marksman.
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Silva is clearly the wise warrior we give him credit for because he foresaw what Haaland had in store.
He might want to detract his statement about not fearing the forward because I doubt there’s a defence in the world who would want to face him right now.
Maybe its for the best they are on the same side instead of opposing dugouts!
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