Why Chelsea extended Giroud and Silva contract by one year

Chelsea on Friday announced the extension of contract for their striker Olivier Giroud and defender, Thiago Silva.

While Giroud has been linked with moves to AC Milan as his contract was scheduled to end this summer, the latest development however means the Italian side will have to wait for another one year before they can get to sign him that is if he doesn’t hang his boot by then.

Chelsea are known to be clubs who do not like extending the contracts of ageing players, however, it has been a different ball entirely when it comes to Giroud and Silva.

Explaining why Chelsea extended both players’ contracts, the club’s Director, Marina Granovskaia, told Chelsea’s website: “Olivier has been such a crucial part of so many big moments for this club, from his contribution to our FA Cup victory in 2018 to scoring 11 goals on the way to winning the Europa League in 2019.

“He has continued to score significant goals, and we will never forget his effort against Atletico Madrid on the way to winning the Champions League this season.

“With so much to still to play for, there was only one decision we could make when we exercised the option to extend his contract back in April.”

On Silva, Granovskaia added: “When we brought Thiago Silva in last summer, we knew we were adding a world-class player to the squad. Thiago has duly shown everyone at Chelsea his immense quality throughout this season, and he has had a huge influence on and off the pitch for us.

“We said when he signed that we hoped Thiago would add new trophies to his impressive list of honours, and he has done just that with our success in the Champions League this weekend. We now hope that he carries on in exactly the same fashion in the coming year.”