Primary Position – Centre-Back

Other position(s) – none

Last two seasons’ form– Games 46 / Goals 0 / Assists 1

Born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in September of 1984, T. Silva started his professional career only in 2002 playing for RS Futebol in the third tier of the Campeonato Gaúcho as a defensive midfielder. He rejected a move to Roma and moved to Juventude where he played for only six months. He transitioned from defensive midfield to a centre-back role and was named in the team of the season for that year. Porto snapped up his services in 2004 for €2.5 million but he featured only for their reserve team. After a year, he joined Dynamo Moscow where he suffered with tuberculosis, causing him to be hospitalised for six months. He nearly called time on his career but was convinced by his earlier coach at Juventude (Wortmann) to sign for Fluminese in 2006. He was voted one of the best players of the season, earning the nickname “O Monstro” (The Monster). After 108 appearances and several individual accolades, he was signed by AC Milan in January 2009 for €10 million. His time at the Italian side was hugely successful with him making 93 appearances and he was voted the best defender in the league by the Italian media and players. He was then signed by Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 for €42 million, the highest ever fee for a defender at the time. He made 204 appearances for the Parisians, scoring nine goals. He left the French side after the end of the 2019/20 season and joined Chelsea on a free transfer, upon expiry of his contract. He has also featured prominently for the Brazilian national side, making 89 appearances and scoring seven goals.

Compared to legendary Italian defender Franco Baresi during his time at Italy, T. Silva has been one of the most consistent defenders of the modern era. The fact that he was frequently captain of Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain says a lot for his leadership qualities, something that was lacking in a young Chelsea side last season. At 35 years of age, his best days are probably behind him but the fact that he was good enough to start a Champions League final is testament to his quality. His experience, tactical intelligence and knowledge is something that the other Chelsea centre-backs can feed off and as his goal tally over his career shows, he is a big threat at set pieces. He is also comfortable with the ball at his feet which is an area which Chelsea have been lacking in after the departure of D. Luiz. A word of caution – the Brazilian has struggled with injuries throughout his career and has not played 30+ games for any of the last four seasons. His gametime will likely need to be managed by Lampard to avoid injury and while he should help Chelsea shore up defensively as a whole, he is probably not reliable enough to trust as a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) asset himself.

Fantasy Football Fix @FantasyFootyFix