Thiago Silva has stressed the importance of ‘spectacular footballer’ Cesar Azpilicueta to Chelsea as Barcelona consider signing the Spanish defender.
Azpilicueta has played more than 450 matches for Chelsea since signing from Marseille ten years ago, winning every major trophy available to him during his spell at Stamford Bridge.
Despite his influence and popularity in London, Azpilicueta has been heavily linked with a move away from Chelsea as he enters the last few months of his contract with the club.
The Blues were hoping to tie down Azpilicueta to a new contract but sanctions to Roman Abramovich has put talks on hold, with the club also having to suspend talks with Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Silva, who joined Chelsea in 2020, clearly wants Azpilicueta to stay at the club and has stressed the importance of the Spaniard both as an important player in the squad and as club captain.
‘Cesar Azpilicueta, since I arrived, was one of my main sources of support,’ Silva told Mundo Deportivo.
‘There are players who have what it takes to be captain and he is one of them. He is a player who seeks union, who tries to help others.
‘He is a spectacular footballer and a super-professional who, with certainty, deserves to be where is. Azpilicueta has beastly conditions.’
With Chelsea unable to make any progress in contract negotiations, La Liga club Barcelona are hoping to take advantage of the situation by agreeing a deal with Azpilicueta.
Azpilicueta, meanwhile, concedes he could ‘never have imagined’ what he would go on to achieve at Chelsea when he arrived at the London club in 2012.
‘This is my tenth season here,’ the Blues hero said in the same interview. ‘When I came, I never imagined that I could get to where I am right now.
‘The role of captain in England is different from that in Spain and here it is true that you can have more responsibilities off the pitch.
‘Also, we are more involved with the referees, with the Premier League, within the club… I am very proud of the fact of becoming captain, even though I am a foreigner.’
