Potential Thiago Silva replacements at Chelsea

At 39 years old, it seems as though the time has come for Thiago Silva to ride off into the sunset.

The iconic defender is now in the final six months of his contract at Chelsea and recently hinted at a departure at the end of the season which, coupled with a desire to part ways with Trevoh Chalobah, will see Chelsea enter the market for a new defender this summer.

Here are ten candidates Chelsea could be looking at.

20-year-old Antonio Silva is one of many young prospects exploding on to the scene at Benfica. He’s been a regular starter for the past few seasons and has plenty of suitors.

While there’s lots to like about Silva, there are reasons for Chelsea to be wary of shelling out for him at this point, namely some mistakes and losses of composure in big moments.

Silva is destined for a bright future, that much is clear, but he doesn’t seem ready for such a move just yet.

Sporting CP’s Goncalo Inacio is two years older than Silva and also boasts twice as many senior appearances. That undoubtedly works in his favour.

A £51m release clause is undoubtedly intriguing for Inacio, whose ball-playing skills are superb. He’s a key cog in Sporting’s attack, but he’s also no slouch in defence either.

Inacio would be a great signing for Chelsea, but concerns over his inexperience outside of Portugal might mean he’s not the guy for the Blues right now.

The towering Giorgio Scalvini looks destined to be the next star defender in Italy, and it would hardly be a bad move to make him Chelsea’s next anchor for years to come.

Only 20 but still with solid experience, the concern over Scalvini is the fact he plays for Atalanta, a club who could hardly be more different to Chelsea when it comes to money, lifestyle, pressure and pretty much everything else involved with being a footballer.

Is Scalvini ready for that jump? Maybe in a year or two.

Sticking in Italy, Alessandro Bastoni was the Scalvini of Serie A before Scalvini came around. He joined from Atalanta in 2017 for big money and already has well over 200 senior appearances to his name.

Bastoni fits perfectly into Chelsea’s project – a young defender with oodles of experience – but is also likely to be one of the most expensive options around,…