Thiago Silva has left his options open as he is linked with a return to Fluminense when his Chelsea contract expires at the end of the season.

Still going strong at 39 years old, the veteran has started all eight of Chelsea’s Premier League games under Mauricio Pochettino so far this season.

He signed his current contract in February this year, which keeps him at Stamford Bridge until the end of the current campaign.

What will come next for the legendary centre-back beyond that is not yet clear, although there has been talk that he could return to a former club.

The 113-cap Brazil international began his youth career at Fluminense and after leaving, returned to the club in 2007, before moving to AC Milan two years later.

There is a chance that he could return for another stint at the Rio de Janeiro club, although he is not committing to it just yet.

‘This relationship has been going on for a long time, right,’ Thiago Silva told Globo’s Esporte Espetacular of Fluminense. ‘But I prefer to remain silent at this moment, as there has already been some controversy in the recent past.

‘I now have a family, I have children. So we have to think about this aspect too. It’s about seeing where things can bring us happiness, to finish this beautiful and successful career that I believe I have achieved.’

Former Chelsea defender William Gallas spoke last month of how he feels the Brazilian is playing like he knows it is his last season with the Blues and in the Premier League.

‘Thiago Silva knows that it is going to be a very difficult season for him,’ Gallas told Genting Casino in September.

‘He knows that this is his last season, and he doesn’t have the right support around him.

‘A player like Thiago Silva, who is thirty-eight-years-old, normally would be looking to the younger players to lift him, to help him with their quality.

‘Chelsea doesn’t have that quality at the moment. It looks like he has to manage everything at the back. During the game against Bournemouth [which finished goalless], he was trying to explain to the midfield where they have to go when he has the ball. That shouldn’t be happening.’

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