Thiago Silva: Chelsea close to signing defender on one-year deal
Chelsea are close to signing defender Thiago Silva on a one-year deal.
The Brazilian centre-back, 35, became a free agent following PSG’s Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich on Sunday.
Silva, who spent eight years with PSG after joining from AC Milan in 2012, will become Frank Lampard’s third signing of the summer following the arrivals of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.
With Chelsea keen to strengthen having been banned from signing players last summer, the London club could also complete deals for Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell and Bayer Leverkusen forward Kai Havertz before the start of the new season.
SIlva won seven Ligue 1 titles during his time in France, but leaves the club having failed to achieve the European success desired most in Paris.
Despite sealing a fourth-placed finish and qualification for next season’s Champions League, Chelsea struggled defensively throughout Lampard’s debut campaign in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Analysis: Chelsea can benefit from wealth of experience
Having conceded 54 Premier League goals last season, the worst record in the top half and 21 more than champions Liverpool, it was clear that Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard was not going to end his transfer business with Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech.
Strengthening his defensive options was always on the agenda and Silva showed there is still value in bringing the 35-year-old to Stamford Bridge with an assured display in the Champions League final, despite his side falling short.
Chelsea may have to offload one of their four senior centre-halves in order to raise funds: Fikayo Tomori has been linked with a loan move to Rennes, there has been talk of Kurt Zouma heading in the opposite direction while Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger are entering the final two years of their current deals.
But for those who stay on next season, Silva would offer a wealth of experience and will aid the development of the highly-rated 18-year-old defender Xavier Mbuyamba – the Dutchman signed after cancelling his contract at Barcelona and dubbed the ‘next Virgil van Dijk’.
Lisbon didn’t provide the perfect send-off for the PSG club captain in his 315th and final game, but the centre-back did impress against Europe’s top marksman Robert Lewandowski and marshalled the back four superbly for an hour before the breakthrough.
His important block to deny Kinglsey Coman a second with the shackles off the Bavarians kept his side in the game.
In his eight years in Paris, Thiago won seven Ligue 1 titles, and he showed his leadership again as the defensive pivot on Sunday – completing more passes (38) and having more touches (57) than any other team-mate, while his six clearances was also a game-high contribution.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
