Chelsea hero Thiago Silva makes shock return to Europe at the age of 41

Veteran centre-back Thiago Silva has made a shock return to the European football scene.

The 41-year-old returned to his native Brazil after departing Chelsea in 2024, in a move that appeared to denote the beginning of his farewell tour as far as playing the game was concerned.

But that notion has been thrown out in this January window, with a move back to one of his former European employers.

Thiago Silva returns to former club at the age of 41

The no-nonsense defender has over 800 professional games under his belt, for Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and AC Milan, among others.

Now, he’s returning to one of his former sides to set the record straight on a spell that perhaps didn’t work as any party quite intended.

It was confirmed over the festive period that Silva has signed a short-term deal with Porto until the end of the season.

The former Brazil international signed for the Portuguese outfit early in his career, during the winter window of 2005, but was reduced to appearances for the reserve side before being sold to Dynamo Moscow that summer.

Silva last played in Europe for Chelsea, where he made 155 appearances and helped the Blues clinch a UEFA Champions League title and the subsequent Super Cup.

He left Stamford Bridge at the end of his contract in 2024, and returned to Brazil to play for Fluminense, where he spent a significant portion of his youth career.

The defender made 46 appearances for the Brazilian side last season, as captain, including games against Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and Chelsea at last summer’s Club World Cup, but agreed to terminate his contract there early in order to make the Porto move.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, it will be remarkable to see whether Silva can adjust back to European football at such a late stage in his career.

It should help that it was Brazil’s top tier that he headed to after Chelsea, an arena not exactly known for being the calmest of arenas to wind down a career, particularly for such a notable Selecao alumnus.

Liga Portugal’s fellow top sides in Sporting and Benfica will provide Silva’s main tests, but eyes may well be drawn to Porto’s assignment at the end of the month against Rangers in the Europa League, with an automatic knockout place still very much in play for his new employers.

Silva is valued at £600k, according to Transfermarkt.