RIO DE JANEIRO –
Veteran defender Thiago Silva will return to Brazil’s Fluminense after announcing he will leave Chelsea at the end of the campaign.
Silva, 39, indicated last week that he will not extend his contract with the English Premier League club and Fluminense announced on Tuesday that the center-back will join the Rio de Janeiro team as a free agent.
The reigning Copa Libertadores champions posted an image of Silva wearing the Fluminense shirt on social media with the message: “The monster is back.”
Silva played for Fluminense between 2006 and 2008. He left the Rio team to join AC Milan in 2009 and, three years later, signed with Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazilian arrived at Chelsea in 2020 and won the Champions League the following year.
The defender played in four World Cups with Brazil, winning the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2019 Copa América.
Silva is expected to join Fluminense once the transfer window opens in Brazil in July.