Chelsea sign Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva

Chelsea

Chelsea has opened up their wallet and signed two players to join them for the upcoming English Premier League and Champions League action. On Wednesday, Chelsea signed left-back Ben Chilwell of Milton Keynes, England, and then on Friday, signed center-back Thiago Silva of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Chilwell is 23 years old, and had played the last five seasons with Leicester City. He had four goals in 99 Premier League games. Chilwell came to terms on a five year deal with Chelsea, for a reported transfer fee of 50 million euros. He has also played 11 games internationally for England in 2018 and 2019.

Chilwell’s first English Premier League goal came on May 18, 2017. However, it was a game Leicester City would like to have forgotten as they were hammered on the pitch by Tottenham Hotspur, and lost 6-1. In 2019-20, Chilwell scored three times for Leicester City. They came in a 9-0 hammering over Southampton on October 25, where Chilwell scored the game winner, in a 2-2 tie with Chelsea on February 1, and in a 1-1 tie with Watford on June 20.

Silva is now 35 years of age, and is nearing the end of a very solid soccer career. Since 2009, he spent three seasons with A.C. Milan from 2009 to 2012, and eight seasons with Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2020. In 11 seasons in Serie A and Ligue 1, Silva had 14 goals in 297 games.

On the international side, Silva has seven goals for Brazil in 89 games, including two goals at the World Cup. He scored in a 2-1 win over Colombia at the 2014 World Cup in his home nation of Brazil, and then in a 2-0 win over Serbia at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

It was a productive 2019-20 season for Chelsea. They finished fourth in the English Premier League, reached the FA Cup Final before losing to Arsenal, and then the round of 16 in the Champions League, but were then beaten by Bayern Munich.

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