Will Thiago Silva going to retire in 2024?
It is difficult for any spectator of football to see the hero they look up to get old and hear about them planning to hang their boots. Thiago Silva is a Brazilian professional footballer born on 22 September 1984 and plays in the defensive position as a centre-back, he is recognized for his technical abilities, discipline and leadership.
In a career spanning over 20 years, he has played for 9 clubs and is a consistent starter for the national team. He got his first breakthrough by signing for the Italian Giants, AC Milan for a record 10.5 million dollars in a 4 years contract to the Italian Giants, AC Milan where he would go on to win the league title and Super Coppa in his debut season. His most successful tenure came at Paris Saint-German where he was signed for a record 45 million euros and played over 208 games becoming the longest-serving captain in the club and winning seven Ligue 1 titles, six Coupes de la Ligue, five Coupes de France, at end of his time at the club he had the eight highest appearances for the club, although his last game ended with a loss in the champions league final against Bayern Munich.
After that, he went on to play for Chelsea for a free transfer in the year 2020 and accomplished his dreams of winning the Champions League, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup in his debut season. Many people don’t know that he actually played as a midfielder in his debut season for RS Futebol, and slowly transitioned into a defender as he excelled at reading the game and anticipating plays also had a higher skillset at closing down and tackling opposing players in possession of the ball.
Now at the age of 39 and his contract expiring the next year, people have started speculating about his retirement especially after he remarked in an interview with an Italian television broadcaster and I quote “The end of my career is approaching and it’s not easy, I have to think if I retire or if I continue, and where I go. There’s the family, I have two sons who play for Chelsea. At the moment I’ll take the opportunity to play and make the most of this last year of my contract at Chelsea. But I’m very happy and proud of the career I’ve had, of what I’m doing now at 39 years old.”
This took the football community by surprise as he is still playing excellently and has played every minute of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign so far. His role in the club is still crucial with the English side losing consecutively in their league games and with no direct replacement for his position, it could only make matters worse for the team. The pressure which made him make the earlier statement might have come from England’s harsh Pundits who have been arguing for a change in the defensive structure of the team, indirectly blaming him and his companions for the poor performance of the team which ended with the team finishing on 12th last season, this season hasn’t been any better with team on the 11th position in the table even after the new Todd Boehly administration which spent more than 600 million euros in the last two transfer market.
The situation inside the team is worsening and it didn’t take long for the outspoken captain Silva to go in an interview with the mirror where he seemed to be pushing an early exit with his current side and wanting to go back to his boyhood club Fluminese in Brazil. In a recent interview with the Mirror, he claimed an incorrect step, was made by the club and the manager shouldn’t have to bear all the blame as the change of ownership with new players arriving brought new problems instead of solving them as they remained quite unhappy with the limited opportunity in the squad because of high competition and sustained pressure throughout the game.
This interview showcased his leadership ability to communicate the problems of his team members but sadly this led him to be in bad terms with management who called it disgraceful for speaking out in such a bad manner about the team and might be one of the reasons he wants an early retirement from the team and cancel the 2024 contract altogether, but several meetings with management, matters are said to be normal and the relationships getting moulded.
Thiago Silva recently got into a controversy when he met Paolo Maldini and it’s claimed he might have sparked his emotions of returning to his boyhood club and ultimately retiring from there. As of now, Silva has not shown any signs of retirement from the sport and is ageing like a fine wine and many critics claim, he is still in the prime of his career with his defensive and leadership skills getting better every day.
There is a high chance he will return to the club where it all began and he can continue easily for the next 2-3 years he may likely retire like many other greats who finished their career in great form playing in less competitive leagues and for Silva, he has got the golden opportunity to do it with his boyhood club. With such an impressive career and considered one of the greats of his generation, his retirement will be considered a loss for the sport.
