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Thiago Silva and family cherish special Chelsea bond
- Silva led Chelsea to Champions League title in 2021
- His sons Isago and Iago play for Blues youth teams
- Flu face Londoners in Club World Cup semi-finals
Thiago Silva is known as the “Monster” in football circles – “Monstro” in Portuguese and “Monstre” in French – and is a fan favourite of three of the four semi-finalists at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™. He is not just adored by fans of Fluminense FC, his current and possibly last club, but also those of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC, who await the Tricolor in their semi-final showdown. And as his wife Belle Silva told FIFA, "Once a Blue, always a Blue."
When he left Chelsea in May 2024 to return to Fluminense, his boyhood club, Thiago never imagined that, a little over a year later, he would be reunited with his former team-mates on the pitch – this time as their opponent. Manhattan is no stranger to famous romantic films, and this emotional reunion will be taking place down the road at the MetLife Stadium on Tuesday, 8 July.
"It’s hard to explain my relationship with the Chelsea fans. It was love at first sight," he said when speaking about the club. "My whole family fell in love with Chelsea. I'm no superhero, but I felt like one when they used to chant my name. Chelsea is special. I was only there for four years, but it felt like a lifetime."
Belle used to travel to Chelsea matches on the London Underground. "Our affection and respect for Chelsea is mutual and very special," she told FIFA. The couple’s sons, Isago and Iago, are currently in the Chelsea youth system with the U-15s and U-16s, with Isago also having represented the club in the U18 Premier League.
"We have a lot of affection for and a great relationship with all the clubs Thiago has played for," Belle said. "But the Silva family are at a different stage of our lives now because my sons are both starting their journeys in football, and they're both being brought through at Chelsea. The club has always embraced us, and we continue to reciprocate that."
"Even in 2025, with Thiago playing for another club, the boys and I are still in London and we still feel that affection," she added. "When we bump into people in the street, they congratulate Thiago and send their best wishes to the boys – they see them as Chelsea's future. We still hear the chant they sing for Thiago. They love football in England, and they also love Thiago with that same passion."
Unfortunately for them, the Silva boys were not able to stay in the USA for the semi-finals of the Club World Cup because they had to return to London to start their pre-seasons, so their mother has stayed on without them.
"I was very proud of my decision to go back to Fluminense," Thiago started to tell Cazé TV following Flu's quarter-final win over Al Hilal. "But I owe a lot to my family because it's not easy to be so far apart. My sons have had to go back [to London] so my wife has stayed on without them. They have their own paths to follow at Chelsea. But I know I made the right choice. They'll continue to follow their own paths and that will give me strength."
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Despite knowing that they will be opponents on Tuesday, the current Chelsea players still hold the utmost respect for Thiago. That was certainly the case for their Spanish left-back, Marc Cucurella.
"He is a legend of the game. He has only ever played for massive clubs," Cucurella said. "Thiago messaged me before the [quarter-final] match saying, 'Come on, I hope we meet in a few days' time.' We have watched a few of the Fluminense matches and they have great players. They’re determined and they have Thiago. It will be a close match."
Belle is not sitting on the fence with this one as she wants her husband and his team-mates to progress to the final, but she made it clear that the family will always have a special bond with the Blues.
"Seeing Thiago play against Chelsea for Fluminense is going to be special," she said. "Of course we want [Fluminense] to win but, even so, once a Blue, always a Blue. Once you're Chelsea, you're Chelsea forever."
Chelsea were Thiago Silva’s last club in Europe before he made the move back to his native Brazil, and his time at Stamford Bridge came off the back of successful spells at Milan and PSG.
The vastly experienced centre-back spent four seasons in West London between 2020 and 2024, during which time he made 155 appearances and scored nine times for the club. He won three major titles during his time at the Bridge in the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League, the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and the 2021 FIFA Intercontinental Cup™. During the latter, he was also awarded the adidas Golden Ball after being named the player of the tournament.
Silva was about to turn 36 when he arrived at Chelsea and had already played in three editions of the FIFA World Cup™ for the Selecao, so it comes as no surprise that he immediately became one of the leaders in the dressing room. A 3-3 draw with West Bromwich Albion on 26 September 2020, which was only his second match for his new club, was the first time the Brazilian defender wore the captain's armband for the Blues.
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"We have a relatively young squad, we've seen that over the last year," said Frank Lampard, Silva’s first coach in England, shortly after the Brazilian's arrival. "There were games where I was asking for more talking and a little more leadership, and he naturally brought that in as soon as he got here."
The centre-back also became the club's oldest ever goalscorer when he found the back of the net against Sheffield United on 7 April 2024, aged 39 years, six months and 16 days. Since the Premier League began, only two players have scored at an older age (Teddy Sheringham for West Ham and Dean Windass for Hull City).
Silva also made an all-time Chelsea XI which was voted on by the club's fans. His spell at the club was the shortest of all the players to make the XI, compared to Petr Cech (11 years at the club), Cesar Azpilicueta (10 years), John Terry (22 years), Ashley Cole (8 years), Claude Makelele (5 years), N’Golo Kante (7 years), Lampard (13 years), Eden Hazard (7 years), Gianfranco Zola (7 years) and Didier Drogba (9 years).
When he left the club in May 2024, Silva was given an emotional farewell ceremony at his final game at Stamford Bridge, where he received an extremely warm reception from the Chelsea faithful. The fans still hold him dearly in their hearts a year after his departure from the club, singing songs about him and recognising him as a club legend.
