Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is a content man following his side’s recent acquisition of veteran Brazilian defender Thiago Silva. Lampard believes that Silva will bring much-needed experience to a young Chelsea side.
Chelsea had signed Thiago Silva, 35, on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after their season concluded with a heart-breaking 0-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final last week.
The Brazilian has represented the French champions 315 times across all competitions and also won 89 caps for the Brazilian national team.
From Lampard’s point of view, along with his great experience, Silva still plays at a very high level as a defender and can still contribute to Chelsea’s charge despite his age. The defender will turn 36 in September.
"With Thiago Silva, we are looking at a player I know very well, pretty much as we all do. He brings great experience for us, he is still playing at a massively high level, as we saw in the Champions League final and games towards the final, so I expect him to come and bring that, bring his experience, leadership and his qualities. It is going to be very important for us," the official website of Chelsea quoted Lampard as saying.
Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time top scorer, further hailed Silva’s leadership and is of the opinion that the Brazilian centre-back will play that leader’s role in the dressing room and on the pitch as it come naturally to him. Silva is a proven leader, having captained PSG in the past few seasons and guiding them to their first Champions League final this year.
"We have a relatively young squad, we saw that last year, there were games afterwards when I was probably asking for more voice and some more leadership in different ways and he brings that naturally straight away, and also on the pitch he can help talk and be the player that he is which means affecting others. On those levels I hope he brings that," he added.
Lampard, in his first season as Chelsea manager, was quite successful as he took a young Chelsea side under his wing and played entertaining and fast-paced football which was much appreciated by fans and pundits alike.
Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League table and reached the finals of the FA Cup, where they lost to crosstown rivals Arsenal. The side also reached the Champions League round-of-16, where they were comprehensively beaten by eventual champions, Bayern Munich.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has made his intentions clear after his side’s comeback from a two-season long transfer ban. The West-London based club have signed major names like Timo Werner , Hakim Ziyech , Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva even as speculation grows regarding the impending signing of Bayern Leverkusen star Kai Havertz.
Chelsea will be aiming for the Premier League crown after a slew of important signings which are surely going to boost their chances going forward.
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