Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo admit they would love to have shared a dressing room with Thiago Silva beyond the end of the season at Chelsea, but wish the defender all the best for the future.

Silva’s current contract expires in the summer and the 39-year-old announced this morning that he had decided against extending his stay in west London for a further 12 months.

Instead, the veteran Brazilian is believed to have reached a verbal agreement to return home to his boyhood club Fluminense for the 2024/25 campaign.

In his four years at Stamford Bridge, Silva has helped the Blues win the Champions League, the Super Cup, the Club World Cup and will leave an enormous void in a squad already lacking strong leaders and experienced heads.

Silva was pictured in floods of tears as Chelsea lost to Manchester City in their FA Cup semi-final clash earlier this month and the ex-AC Milan and PSG centre-back will be desperate to finish the season on a high, with five Premier League games remaining.

‘Chelsea means a lot to me. I came here with the intention of only staying for a year and it ended up being four years. Not just for me but for my family, too,’ Silva said in an emotional farewell video on the club’s official website.

‘My sons play for Chelsea so it’s a source of great pride to be a part of the Chelsea family – literally because my sons are here. I hope they can continue their careers here at this victorious club that many players wish to be part of.

‘I think in everything I did here over the four years, I always gave my all. But, unfortunately, everything has a start, a middle and an end.

‘That doesn’t mean that this is a definitive end. I hope to leave the door open so that in the near future I can return, albeit in another role here.

‘But it’s an indescribable love. I can only say thank you.’

Chelsea forward Jackson has relished sharing a dressing room with Silva and believes the Brazil international will ‘for sure’ be a coach when he decides to bring his playing career to an end.

‘I was watching Thiago since I was young and he’s an inspiration in football,’ Jackson told Sky Sports.

‘He’s one of the best defenders in the world and to come and be in the same dressing room, on the same pitch, listening to him, giving me advice, giving us all advice in the dressing room, it was a pleasure.

‘We all wish to be with him for more years in the dressing room, playing with us and enjoying together. We hoped we would win something but it was not possible.

‘We just wish him luck and his family and hope he does great in what he wants to do, in his career.

‘I think he will be a coach, for sure, because he’s like an inspiration to the young people so I’m very happy to be with him and I wish him luck.’

Chelsea midfielder Caicedo, meanwhile, hopes to see Silva return as a manager after spending a season with the legendary centre-half’s team-mate.

‘He’s a legend and it’s amazing to share a lot of moments with him,’ the Ecuador international said.

‘But I will have liked to play more years with him because I can learn a lot from him all over the pitch.

‘But his decision is his decision and we have to respect his decision, but maybe, I hope, he can come here as a manager or something like this and we can learn more from him.’

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