Chelsea’s Thiago Silva has established himself as one of the very best defenders of his generation.
Remarkably, Thiago Silva continues to shine at the highest level at the age of 39. He’s played every single minute in the Premier League so far this season.
It’s hard to imagine the £110,000-a-week Brazilian star (Spotrac) not in football.
Therefore, could we end up seeing the centre-back turn to management once his playing career is over?
Future manager
Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has tipped Silva as the next individual to end up in a manager’s dugout.
You’d be foolish to predict when the centre-half will hang up his boots. He’s been proving everyone wrong since he arrived at Stamford Bridge a few years ago.
It’s interesting to hear that the player himself has started asking questions about coaching, though.
When asked which current Chelsea player could move into management, Pochettino told beIN SPORTS Asia: “Maybe Thiago Silva because he’s 39 and he would love to manage, and be a coach.
“We were talking in the last few months a lot. He was asking about different things. When I started my career as a coach. Maybe he is going to be the next to take up the challenge of being a coach and I think he’s great. With all his experience, he can be a good coach.”
Thiago Silva the coach on the pitch
There’s no doubt that Silva is the leader in the heart of Chelsea’s defence trying to help all the young players around him. He must be an absolute dream teammate for the Blues youngsters.
It’s crazy to think he’s a couple of years older than Burnley manager Vincent Kompany. Elsewhere, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Gary O’Neill and Luton Town’s Rob Edwards are both 40.
The Athletic recently claimed that Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk looks towards Silva as a great inspiration of how to play well into your late thirties.
We can’t wait to see if a managerial career does unfold once he stop playing, but for now supporters can continue to enjoy these remarkable individual performances in the Premier League.
