Can declining Thiago Silva still help solve Chelsea's defensive woes?

Chelsea's summer recruitment drive has centred around bolstering the attack thus far. Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner have both joined from Ajax and RB Leipzig, respectively, while Kai Havertz is closing in on a move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues didn't have any major issues hitting the back of the net last term - their 69 league goals scored was the third best in the Premier League - but they have improved significantly in the final third. 

The major area of concern for Chelsea, though, was at the back. The Blues may have been effective going forward, yet they faltered in their attempts to keep opponents out. They shipped 54 league goals in total in 2019/20, the same as Brighton and only 10 fewer than relegated Watford. So it was only a matter of time before Frank Lampard sought to add a new face or two to the defence in a bid to improve a sieve-like backline. 

And while Chelsea were linked with big money moves for Lewis Dunk and Declan Rice in a bid to bolster the backline, the Blues have looked to raid the bargain bin to add experience to an inexperienced defence. Following Sunday's Champions League final, Thiago Silva is a free agent and a deal to take the Brazilian to England is set to be completed this week. 

At 35 years of age, Silva will bring vital experience to this Chelsea defence. He may turn 36 next month, yet he is a serial winner and that mental toughness will boost a backline that struggled on more than one occasion across all competitions last season. And as a free agent, it's a fairly low risk move by the Blues. 

Following the costly mistake of spending big to sign Kepa two years ago as a replacement for Courtois, Chelsea are keen to avoid making a similar error in judgement in a key role but the issue is whether the club are going from one extreme to the other and avoiding paying through the nose for a defender who is in the twilight years of his career. 

Given his age, Silva's career is winding down. He may have been influential in PSG's progression to the Champions League final, but are Chelsea making a rash decision to land a defender who is, arguably, on the natural decline? Indeed, Silva's WhoScored rating of 6.97 in 2019/20 was his lowest in a league season since the start of the 2009/10 campaign. 

His league rating has been slowly dropping over the last five seasons and while his age will be playing its part, would the free transfer of Silva actually have an adverse effect on the Chelsea defence? Transitioning from Ligue 1 to the Premier League at this stage of Silva's career will be easier said than done, even if he remains a world class centre-back. 

PSG's dominance of French football has aided Silva's reputation as he edges towards the end of his playing career. A pass success rate of 95.5% was better than any other player in Europe's top five leagues last season and very much plays into the possession based approach Lampard has implemented, so there's little to tinker with his game in order to match the demands of the Chelsea boss. However, that high pass percentage was in part due the Parisian powerhouse dwarfing a majority of their Ligue 1 opponents. Many are cautious about committing too many men forward for fear of being caught out by the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria, which, in the process, granted Silva additional space and time to pick out a teammate, a quality to his game that has seen him gain a WhoScored strength of 'passing'.  

In the Premier League, this is unlikely to be the case. PSG are France's biggest football team, but Chelsea have dropped behind Liverpool and Manchester City as the best in England. Only Burnley (14) lost more games than Chelsea (12) of those to finish in the top half of the Premier League last season. By comparison, PSG have lost 11 league matches since the start of the 2017/18 Ligue 1 campaign. Silva has been vital in that return being so low, yet it's a clear indicator that PSG are the dominant force in France.

English opponents don't fear Chelsea in the same way French sides fear PSG, so Silva won't get the same time on the ball in the Premier League as he would in Ligue 1. Conversely, though, is that Lampard can maximise his experience to help blood the youngsters in a bid to aid the likes of Zouma, Tomori and Christensen. All have the requisite tools to become key men for Chelsea with a little more guidance and Silva seems the ideal fit for Lampard's side in that regard. 

A lack of leadership at the back has cost Chelsea time and time again and this mental quality to Silva's game is a boost, but he'll need to adjust to the rigours of English football quickly if he is to succeed in the Premier League. On paper, the free capture of Silva is a smart addition to the squad, yet has the potential to go very south very quickly if opponents are able to exploit his natural decline, something that was masked by PSG's league dominance in recent seasons.