Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has played against some of the best players in the world in his career.
That includes Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he name-checked in a recent interview with the Premier League’s official YouTube channel when asked about his hardest ever opponent.
However, Thiago Silva also named compatriot and former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar as one of his toughest opponents.
The two came up against each other on more than one occasion when Neymar was still a Barcelona player.
With the attacker now in Saudi Arabia and Silva at the end of his career, though, the two may never cross paths on a football pitch again.
Table of Contents
Neymar one of Thiago Silva’s toughest ever opponents
Silva was recently asked about his toughest ever opponent.
In response, the Chelsea centre-back said: “There were a few. Cristiano, when he was at the top of his career. Messi and also Neymar when he was playing at Barcelona we used to face each other a lot. He is one of the toughest players I have faced.”
MORE CHELSEA STORIES
Thiago Silva and Neymar could have been team-mates at Chelsea
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea actually had the chance to bring Neymar to Stamford Bridge last summer and reunite him with Silva.
Last August, Romano claimed that PSG gave Chelsea the opportunity to sign Neymar, but the Blues wanted to prioritise the development of their current wingers like Mykhailo Mudryk.
The Ukrainian has really been overlooked by Mauricio Pochettino of late, though, and has only scored three Premier League goals this season.
If Neymar was a bit younger, Chelsea probably would have taken that opportunity to sign the Brazilian. However, he is now 32 and has had a lot of injuries in this late part of his career. The former PSG and Barcelona star, who has been hailed as a “world-class” footballer by his former manager Christophe Galtier, would not have come cheap either.
It cost Al-Hilal £77m to sign Neymar from PSG last summer, according to BBC Sport.
