Thiago Silva will be remembered by the vast majority of football fans as one of the best centre-backs of his generation.The Brazil international starred for AC Milan between 2009-2012 before moving on to Paris Saint-Germain in 2012.Silva enjoyed eight hugely successful years at the Parc des Princes and has now taken the opportunity to test himself in the Premier League, at the age of 36, with Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.The veteran defender made his first appearance for the Blues during Wednesday night’s emphatic 6-0 win over Barnsley in the League Cup.Fellow summer signing Kai Havertz helped himself to a hat-trick, while Tammy Abraham, Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud also got themselves on the scoresheet.Silva started the game alongside Fikayo Tomori in central defence and played 60 minutes before Lampard subbed him off for Kurt Zouma.
However, this was a flawless debut from the South American, who was typically calm and composed in possession.You can watch his individual highlights here…
In truth, Silva was hardly tested against the Championship side. That said, his positioning was spot on and his mere presence appeared to have a calming influence on Chelsea’s back-line.
His range of passing was also good, too. The South American wasn’t afraid to spray a few passes across the pitch.
Of his 68 attempted pass, Silva completed 64.
The Chelsea new boy will obviously face much tougher opponents over the coming weeks but, all in all, this was a very encouraging debut.
“It is exciting for us because he has had just over a week training with us,” Lampard told reporters, per The Metro, after the match.
“It was a perfect 60 minutes for him tonight. He will show the qualities he has. Of course, he will get fitter and better. He also gave us something for me on the night in the dressing room and on the pitch of a leader with authority in terms of his demands on others.
“He can’t speak the language but at the minute that’s not even a problem because his presence and the way he commands people around him is already showing that to me in training and in our game tonight.
“I am very very pleased with Thiago. It is what I expected of a player of his level but it is very refreshing to have him here at the club.”