**Ex-Chelsea star William Gallas believes the failure to sign a replacement for Thiago Silva has caused his former club major issues.**
The Brazilian left for Fluminense on a free transfer in the summer of 2024, but Gallas says the Blues should have signed a similar centre-back to mitigate his loss:
“For me, it’s always a problem with a club that doesn’t have experienced players in the team. So when we speak about Chelsea, we know Thiago Silva was the captain of Chelsea, was a player who had more experience, and at the same time, he was helping the young defenders who were around him.”
“When he left, yes, they didn’t buy an experienced defender, that’s why the defenders have made some mistakes. The problem is when you are on the pitch, when you play against the big clubs, you need someone who is leading the defensive line. When I look at Chelsea, when they play, no one is leading that defensive line. That is a problem because all the players, all the defenders, are focused about what they have to do and not about the defensive line.”
Chelsea have shown interest in recruiting older defenders
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It was reported last summer that the Blues did make enquiries about Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk before he put pen to paper on a new contract with the Premier League champions.
There are also suggestions that the club’s recruitment team have [**explored a move**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-transfer-news-dayot-upamecano/) for Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano, who could leave the Bundesliga giants when his current deal expires at the end of the season.
No money will be spent on a Silva replacement
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What you may have noticed from the transfer links mentioned above is that the Blues are only prepared to sign old players if they are available on a free transfer.
The transfer policy which the club follows means that, unless an experienced centre-half is available for next to nothing, Chelsea won’t sign them.
[**Read more about the Chelsea First Team Squad for 2025/26 here**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-first-team-squad/)