Winter has reached Europe; fans across France are reaching for their warmer jackets as they contemplate venturing to a Ligue 1 game, with Paris Saint-Germain set to face AS Nancy on Saturday afternoon.
As the sun casts a shadow over the Stade Marcel Picot's artificial pitch, you have to wonder if this is the last time Thiago Silva will ever play on the controversial surface.
Not only are the Lorraine side one of the favourites to be relegated to Ligue 2 this season—with one win in eight games, they sit bottom of the table—but recent comments from people close to the PSG captain suggest that he may be looking to the future, and it may lie away from the Parc des Princes.
Saturday’s game should be a formality, even though PSG’s away form hasn’t been great. Nancy have managed just three goals this season, so the chances of them breaching Silva and Co.’s defence are pretty slim.
Unai Emery’s side face FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, October 19, so the Spanish coach may take this chance to rest his 32-year-old centre-back—especially after his return to international duty in the past week.
"Why was I not being called up [under Dunga]? Honestly, it is difficult to explain," Silva told Globoesporte (h/t ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson). "The hardest thing was explaining to my children why I was no longer playing for the Selecao. Each time we were watching a match, they asked me why I was not on the pitch. I was unable to answer them."
"One year and three months without playing for the national team was tough for me," Silva told reporters after PSG's 2-0 win over Bordeaux on Saturday. "I am anxious to return. I will rest a little before leaving for Brazil on Monday. It is a bit like the first time all over again. Almost like the first day of school. The only difference is I do not need to sing in front of the group."
Brazil played twice, sealing a 5-0 win over Bolivia on Friday and a 2-0 victory on Monday away at Venezuela. Silva may still have to answer to his children, as he failed to feature in either game—Atletico Madrid’s Filipe Luis and club team-mate Marquinhos started both contests.
In the past, the Nancy game would have been the perfect opportunity to rest Silva, but with Marquinhos playing both games and more minutes overall this campaign, it may be the opposite.
Emery may have to start the elder Brazilian, playing him alongside Presnel Kimpembe on Saturday.
After joining from AC Milan in 2012, Silva had played 86 league games for PSG going into this new campaign. However, an injury picked up on their tour of the USA gave Emery a chance to have a good look at Kimpembe, with the young French defender perhaps the brightest point of the season so far.
It was the newfound faith in the 21-year-old that accelerated David Luiz’s exit from the club. Yet it does mean that PSG will go through the campaign with just three recognised centre-backs.
Serge Aurier can play there, as can Grzegorz Krychowiak and Thiago Motta, as discussed previously in this column. But the majority of game time will fall on the shoulders of Marquinhos, Kimpembe and Silva.
The 32-year-old missed the first five games of the season, making his first start against Dijon, but he was then on the losing side as Toulouse upset the champions in Week 7.
Things could have been much different at the capital club, with Kimpembe also a target for Chelsea this summer, per L'Equipe (h/t the Daily Star's Alex Wood), but as he told French publication Onze Mondial, words of advice from Emery persuaded him to remain at PSG.
“I thought about it," Kimpembe said (h/t Wood). "What made me stay? Firstly, my family advice. Then I thought about it, and decided to stay. Speaking with the manager and the staff reassured me."
Kimpembe has played six out of PSG's eight league games and impressed so much that he was called up to the senior France squad to replace Eliaquim Mangala for the most recent internationals.
"I would like to stay in Paris and extend my contract as quickly as possible," Kimpembe told TV show Telefoot, (h/t ESPN FC's Johnson). "Paris is my home, it is where I grew up. I have made my life here and PSG are like a second family to me."
The young centre-back recently hinted that PSG could give their youth players more of a push, and he can’t argue that Emery hasn’t offered him that chance.
What does that mean for Silva? Well, with the Brazilian’s contract up in 2017, the club could realistically start to build for life without their captain.
Marquinhos has long been linked with a move away from the French capital—as noted by Goal's Ignasi Oliva, for example—but first-team football will likely persuade him to stay. A partnership with Kimpembe could not only be the future of PSG, but also the present.
Silva is still one of the best players in his position, and if come January the club are still in contention to compete in the latter stages of the Champions League, they won’t entertain any offers for a move. But if they were to be eliminated or clearly in no position to go all the way, they could be tempted.
It would also be the last point in which they would be able to command a decent fee for the defender.
“We’re not negotiating a new contract, let’s see what happens before December,” his agent Paulo Tonietto told Sport Witness' Lucas Sposito in an exclusive interview. “Thiago’s deal ends on June 30, 2017, if PSG don’t qualify for the Champions League. Everything is possible in football.”
There’s little doubt the champions will continue to dominate domestically. However, Silva may want the opportunity to sign for a club with a higher chance of winning the Champions League before he gets into his twilight years.
Tonietto's comments came after it was reported by TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t Sposito of Sport Witness) that Chelsea were interested in reuniting Silva with David Luiz.
When asked about whether Luiz's transfer to the Blues would help facilitate Silva's move to Stamford Bridge, the agent told Sport Witness: “Chelsea are a big club. And the English league is the best in the world. I don’t know about this, I know they’re great friends.”
When the transfer window reopens, there will be plenty of noise regarding Silva’s future, and there is also a big chance that PSG will look to bring in a centre-back—either for this season or to be loaned out until the summer.
In four previous Champions League campaigns for PSG, Silva has sometimes been found wanting against the best teams. Although he scored the goal that helped them beat Chelsea on away goals in the tournament's round of 16 in 2015, he conceded a penalty at Stamford Bridge before finding the net.
Imperious form in Ligue 1 does not translate into success against the bigger clubs.
It can be argued that part of his downfall was being paired with David Luiz. That would put extra importance on his performances with Marquinhos this term.
Should the pair fail to show they have the ability to take on Europe’s best, PSG and Emery may feel that it’s time to let Silva go, ushering in a new era at the Parc des Princes.