London: Veteran Brazilian defender Thiago Silva has expressed his wish to return to his homeland to play for Fluminense before he puts curtains on his career. “If I told you that I don’t think about it, I’d be lying to you,” Silva told in an interview.
“It’s something that I think about, I already talked a few times with my wife. When you have a long career in Europe, your children grow up in Europe, this decision is difficult. Maybe you leave your family, your children studying in Europe and go to Brazil anyway. If I’m not mistaken, Julio Cesar did this recently at Flamengo before ending his career,” he further added.
Having spent over a decade in Europe, he won numerous trophies with AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain while establishing himself as one of the best modern-day centre-backs in the world. He joined Chelsea on an initial one-year contract with the option of extending for a further year. Now, he has been joined by his former boss Thomas Tuchel with hopes to conquer the Premier League.
However, it’s his boyhood club back in Brazil and the prestigious Copa Libertadores which have firmly captured his imagination. “I do have this dream of returning to wear the shirt of Fluminense, everyone knows my desire. But it’s something I prefer to leave in the future to see how things are going to happen. It’s a difficult decision to be made, but I’m really thinking with great affection and suddenly I have this Libertadores mission again,” he said.
Currently, at 36, Silva opened up about how long he wants to continue his footballing journey by drawing an example of a certain AC Milan icon, Paolo Maldini. The legendary defender was in the twilight of his career when Silva joined the club back in early 2009. Although he did not feature in any game for the first six months but was an able to train with the squad.
“Those last six months of his career were the six months when I had arrived at Milan and couldn’t play. Ancelotti took me to all the games. Of course, he asked me to watch the team, but specifically to watch what Maldini did on and off the pitch. He was 41 already,” he recalled.
He mentioned how Maldini helped to shape his game and sharpening his defending skills especially during training sessions in his initial six months at the club. “I tried to observe not only in the games, but in the moments during the week, in his preparation, what he did, what he tried to do to keep improving, because people who play at a high level are always wanting to improve and playing as better as possible,” he added.
“And he trained like none of the young players did. So I have him as an example not only on the pitch on matchdays but also on the outside.” Silva exhibited his wish to continue his career even into the ’40s just like his fellow former senior mate.
“I identified a lot with Paulo and in this little interaction that I had with him, I could see that suddenly I was preparing well and could reach 40 years of age playing wherever I wanted, you know,” he said.
“And Paulo, for sure, he’s certainly somebody that I greatly admired, a mirror so that I can reach these 40 years, which is the age I have in my head that maybe I could end my career.”
