Chelsea extend contracts of Thiago Silva and Olivier Giroud until the end of next season
Thiago Silva played a key role as Chelsea finished in the top four and won the Champions League, but Olivier Giroud was on the fringes
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea have extended the contracts of Thiago Silva and more surprisingly Olivier Giroud by a further year to keep them at Stamford Bridge until the end of next season.
Thiago Silva joined Chelsea last summer on a one-year deal after leaving Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, and helped the club finish fourth in the Premier League and win the Champions League.
The 36-year-old defender was reunited with his former PSG manager when Frank Lampard was sacked halfway through the season and replaced by Thomas Tuchel. The move sparked a change in fortunes as Chelsea climbed the table while progressing in Europe, and Thiago Silva played a key role in the centre of a miserly three-man defence.
He played 34 games throughout the season, scoring two goals, and started the Champions League final against Manchester City in Porto but had to replaced in the first half after suffering an injury.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: “When we brought Thiago Silva in last summer, we knew we were adding a world-class player to the squad. Thiago has duly shown everyone at Chelsea his immense quality throughout this season, and he has had a huge influence on and off the pitch for us.
“We said when he signed that we hoped Thiago would add new trophies to his impressive list of honours, and he has done just that with our success in the Champions League this weekend. We now hope that he carries on in exactly the same fashion in the coming year.”
Giroud signed a three-and-a-half-year contract when he joined from Arsenal but has found himself on the periphery both under Lampard and Tuchel.
“Olivier has been such a crucial part of so many big moments for this club, from his contribution to our FA Cup victory in 2018 to scoring 11 goals on the way to winning the Europa League in 2019,” Granovskaia said. “He has continued to score significant goals, and we will never forget his effort against Atletico Madrid on the way to winning the Champions League this season.
“With so much to still to play for, there was only one decision we could make when we exercised the option to extend his contract back in April.”
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