Silva signed a one-year extension to his rolling contract last season despite Chelsea’s struggles under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and then Frank Lampard, while he was unimpressed with his colleagues’ dwindling performances towards the tail end of the season and was not afraid to show his frustration with them.
Chelsea’s defence has sat deeper than perhaps expected as a result of Silva’s lack of pace at 39, with the question set to be posed to Pochettino over whether the Blues could see an improvement with the Brazilian out of the team despite being the most experienced player in an extremely youthful squad.
Pochettino does have a host of options to call upon, as Colwill and Disasi could form a partnership in the heart of defence while Ben Chilwell could be reverted to left-back. Trevoh Chalobah is also waiting in the wings after failing to secure a summer move and Benoit Badiashile is working his way back from a long-term injury and should be available for selection in the near future, giving the Chelsea boss a selection dilemma and difficult call to make regarding Silva.
