Fabrizio Romano tips one Chelsea defender to leave for £25m as another speaks out on his future

Chelsea have received updates about two of their defenders after Fabrizio Romano provided some insight for Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva opened up on his own future.

Silva and Chalobah are at differing stages of their careers, with the former a veteran at the age of 39 and the latter still regarded as a prospect after coming through the academy ranks, despite now being 24 years old.

They are also at alternative points of their contracts; Chalobah is tied down until 2028, whereas Silva is already into the final year of his deal after signing a short-term extension in February.

There is a chance that neither of them will play for Chelsea next season, though. Chalobah had opportunities to leave the club in the summer, but nothing went through.

Nevertheless, TEAMtalk exclusively disclosed earlier this month that Chelsea have told Chalobah he can leave in January, and respected reporter Romano has now revealed there is a mutual interest in ending his Blues career at the next opportunity.

Romano told Caught Offside: “There is the expectation that Trevoh Chalobah will leave in January after almost doing so in the summer.

“Both Chelsea and Chalobah feel that partying ways in January is the best solution for both sides.

“I think his fee could be around £25m as it was in the summer, but again it depends on the negotiation – that’s not guaranteed yet. Bayern Munich were interested in the summer and in my opinion he can play anywhere – he’s a very good and underrated player.”

Few, in contrast, would call Silva underrated. Indeed, there is widespread respect for someone who has played at a high level in Europe for almost 15 years across spells with AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

For a while, there has been an anticipation of the Brazil international returning to his homeland to re-join Fluminense, whom Milan signed him from in January 2009.

Thiago Silva stays quiet on Fluminense return chances

However, in a new interview, the Rio de Janeiro native has opted to remain tight-lipped about the idea of returning to his home state’s oldest club, who are Copa Libertadores finalists this year.

He told Esporte Espetacular: “This is a long-standing relationship, right? But I’d rather keep quiet at the moment, because it’s been controversial in the recent past.

“I have a family now, I have children. So we have to think about that too. But it’s about seeing where things can bring us happiness, to finish off this beautiful and victorious career that I believe I’ve had.”

Silva previously played 143 times for Fluminense. He has been ever-present across all eight Premier League matches so far this season for Chelsea and has a total of 125 appearances to his name for the club since joining them from PSG, where he was captain, in 2020.

Chalobah, meanwhile, is yet to play this season due to injury, but before that reached a tally of 63 first-team appearances for the Blues.

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