Chelsea ready audacious raid for £70m wonderkid as Liverpool line up intriguing Virgil van Dijk successor

Thiago Silva turns 40 next year and his Chelsea contract comes to and end at the close of this season – so it’s only natural that thoughts are turning to a farewell tour for a player who has been a giant of the game for the past couple of decades. Instead of seeing things out at Stamford Bridge, the Brazilian media reckon he could well be headed home to Fluminense.

90min picked up on an interview in which Silva was asked about his future: “I prefer to remain silent at this moment,” he said, before continuing to talk. “I now have a family, I have children, so we have to think about this aspect… It’s about seeing where things can bring us happiness, to finish this beautiful and successful career that I believe I have achieved."

Which isn’t exactly conclusive, but does at least hint that he doesn’t expect to spend much more time in the Premiert League despite being a regular presence in Mauricio Pochettino’s back line so far this season. Silva played for Fluminense as a teenager, so it would certainly be an emotional homecoming if it came to pass.

The 3AM Verdict: Silva is at an age where some degree of continuous decline is inevitable, so it would hardly be a great surprise if he was released with a pat on the back at the end of the season. But then again, if he can keep his standards high enough – and he seems to have done so thus far – why not one more year? He wouldn’t be the first 40-year-old to have something left in the tank.

Chelsea considering Sporting splurge

Caught Offside have picked up on reports that Chelsea have sent scouts to watch teenage defender Ousmane Diomande in action over the international break – but they aren’t the only London club interested, and Sporting Lisbon seem keen to play hardball over the 19-year-old’s future, but could the freshly-minted international fill the void left by Silva?

Sporting are trying to tie Diomande down to a new contract into which an €80m (£69.5m) release clause would be inserted, and even Chelsea might pause for a beat before spending that on a player who only 35 senior games under his belt. Arsenal apparently had a crack at signing the talented teen over the summer, too, so they may well fancy a second bite of the cherry down the line, but it’s looking likely to be an especially expensive cherry…

The 3AM Verdict: When you consider the fees big clubs have been spending on players like Vinícius Junior, Kendry Paez, Endrick and so on over recent years, it’s clearly not so outrageous to ask for nearly £70m for a teenager any more. But it’s still a lot for a lad who has talent in abundance but a very small body of work behind him – and if Sporting to get that contract sorted, we suspect it might be a little while longer before anyone makes a move for him. Don’t be shocked if he turns out to be a superstar in a few years’ time, mind you.

Liverpool’s defensive shortlist gets a little longer

Every time we comb the global gossip columns for fresh rumours, Liverpool are linked with another centre-back. This time 90min have dropped not one but four names into the mix – leading with the heavily sought-after Sporting centre-half Gonçalo Inácio, who basically has half of Europe’s top clubs after him at this point. Apparently they sent some scouts to watch him play for Portugal.

For completists, the other defenders mentioned are António Silva of Benfica, Giorgio Scalvini of Atalanta and São Paulo’s Lucas Beraldo – some of which will be familiar to Football Manager players and all of which are considerably younger than the ageing defenders Jürgen Klopp has on his squad at the moment. Virgil van Dijk may not be the first name of the teamsheet for much longer.

The 3AM Verdict: Liverpool definitely need to refresh the defence at some point, and a lot of these defenders are very highly-touted, especially the 22-year-old Inácio. It’s pretty clear that even they don’t know who they’re going to buy at this point in time, but if we had to pick one and were allowed to ignore minor issues like “money”, it’s the Sporting man that we’d recommend.