In the past week or so, there has been a lot of reminiscing from Chelsea fans on social media. 

Ahead of the second leg against PSG in midweek, many were posting videos from the famous comeback win over Napoli in 2012, where Chelsea came back from a 3-1 first leg deficit. 

This was then counterpointed by the fact the Blues had real leaders, and proper players in the team. The likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole. Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. Even the likes of John Obi Mikel and Ramires among others. 

There's not much the Chelsea faithful like more than a proper leader in the team. A more recent example of this would be Thiago Silva, who joined on a free transfer from PSG in 2020, and immediately helped lead the team to another Champions League trophy, much like the aforementioned players. 

Many fans have attributed struggles in the last two years towards Silva's departure in the summer of 2024. A young and volatile group no longer have that experienced head to hold their hand. 

Considering that Silva was nearly 40 when he left SW6, you'd have expected him to be retired by now. However, that is very much not the case. 

Indeed not. After leaving Chelsea, he went back home, joining Brazilian side Fluminense. He made 66 appearances for the Rio based side in 18 months, including in the Club World Cup semi final against the Blues last summer. 

By this point, at 41, many were wondering if that would be it for his career. But, in turns out there was still another chapter yet to come. 

In January of this year, Silva joined Portuguese side FC Porto, 21 years after leaving them for Russian side Dynamo Moscow. So far, he has already made eight appearances across three competitions. 

Those competitions include the Europa League, where he played in both of Porto's legs against Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, where they progressed with a 4-1 aggregate victory. 

With his appearance in the first leg victory away from home, the Brazilian became the oldest ever outfield player in the Europa League, and the oldest player in general to debut in the competition. 

This shows just how good his longevity is, and also how good he was in prime to always play for teams that were competing in the UEFA Champions League. 

To make his performances and achievements over these two ties even more impressive, between the two legs, Silva's Mother sadly passed away. Incredible mental strength to even play in the second leg after such a heartbreaking loss. 

What a player, and what a person. A Chelsea and footballing legend. 

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