Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly has admitted he loves having Thiago Silva as a teammate at Stamford Bridge.
Thiago Silva, who’s now 38, is one of the few individuals in the Chelsea squad that has consistently performed to a high standard this season.
The £110,000-a-week (Spotrac) centre-back continues to set the standards on and off the pitch as a senior player for the Blues.
He’s still under contract in West London until the summer of 2024, so we won’t be surprised to see him play a vital role in the next campaign as well.
Ian Wright suggested a couple of months ago that Chelsea would be a complete mess without Silva in the XI. It’s hard to disagree with him!
Koulibaly, 31, has had an indifferent opening season in Chelsea colours. There’s been signs the Blues centre-half has settled a lot more in 2023, though.
Speaking in an interview with GOAL, Koulibaly has been extremely complimentary of his Chelsea colleague:
“I would steal the experience of Thiago Silva. I’m lucky to play with him today, he’s a really good defender, a legend for everybody in football. At 38, to do what he’s doing is really amazing. For me, it would be nice if I could steal his experience,” he said.
Even someone as experienced as Koulibaly will learn a lot from Silva.
Alongside Silva and Koulibaly, Chelsea have a very talented young crop of centre-backs with so much potential.
Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana, as well as Blues loanee Levi Colwill, are all brilliant centre-halves that the next permanent manager should be looking at.
Despite Chelsea’s very poor season, the defence is one area that has kept things steady.
We agree that there needs to be some significant recruitment in a couple of areas of the pitch, but we could have a fantastic long-term future in the heart of defence if our youngsters learn from the experienced bunch.