Paris Saint-Germain make their decision on Thiago Silva’s future

French champions Paris Saint-Germain have decided to part ways with Thiago Silva at the end of their Champions League campaign, ESPN FC’s Julien Laurens reports.

The centre-back joined Les Parisiens from AC Milan during the summer of 2012 and over the past eight years, he has been a consistent performer at the heart of the defence with at least 30 appearances in every season.

His current contract is due to expire at the end of June, but Les Parisiens are expected to offer him a short-term extension such that he can play in their Champions League campaign which resumes after the coronavirus shutdown in August.

However, the capital outfit have no plans of renewing his contract beyond that period and age could be a prime reason behind the decision, given he would already be 36 by the end of the year.

Silva has been effective with his displays on the playing field for Les Parisiens this term despite entering the final phase of his career and he has been in the starting lineup in 28 of his 30 appearances across all competitions.

With his departure, Les Parisiens should miss his leadership qualities in the backline but that could also present for Marquinhos to cement a permanent place in the central defence next season.

Marquinhos has been a regular for the Ligue 1 holders but he has generally swapped between the central defensive and holding midfield duties due to the variety of options at manager Thomas Tuchel’s disposal.

Abdou Diallo, Presnel Kimpembe and Thilo Kehrer are three young and experienced central defenders in the squad and Marquinhos could assume the leadership duties at the back once Silva heads through the exit door.

Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara have previously been mentioned as possible transfer candidates for Les Parisiens, suppose Silva leaves the club.

Koulibaly, 29, would be an ideal replacement for Silva, but he may be out of the club’s range with Napoli reluctant to accept anything less than £100m for the former Genk man.

With the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Les Parisiens could lean towards signing the young Kamara, who could be available for an affordable fee of £28m from their domestic rivals.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com