Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984), more commonly known as Thiago Silva, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Italian Serie A club Milan.
As a youngster, Thiago Silva trained with Fluminense, but was not signed when he grew older. However, he was offered a professional contract by small Rio Grande do Sul state club RS Futebol, in the south of Brazil, and was then quickly picked up by nearby Juventude, with whom he had an excellent debut season in the First Division in 2004. By this time, Thiago Silva, formerly a right winger who also had spells in midfield and at full-back, had been converted into a centre-back, and he was good enough to attract the attention of European clubs. Firstly, he played for Porto, then became one of the shopping list of Dynamo Moscow. In that transfer window, Silva moved along with Derlei, Cícero, Danny and Nuno Frechaut. But spells with Porto and Dynamo Moscow were blighted by injuries and illness, and he returned to Brazil to rebuild his career with the club he supported in his youth.
In December 2008, Thiago Silva joined Milan under a €10 million agreement. Silva was officially registered as a Milan player effectively from July 2009, since the club had already signed two non-EU nationals during the 2008–09 season (namely, Andriy Shevchenko and Tabaré Viudez).
As a youngster, Thiago Silva trained with Fluminense, but was not signed when he grew older. However, he was offered a professional contract by small Rio Grande do Sul state club RS Futebol, in the south of Brazil, and was then quickly picked up by nearby Juventude, with whom he had an excellent debut season in the First Division in 2004. By this time, Thiago Silva, formerly a right winger who also had spells in midfield and at full-back, had been converted into a centre-back, and he was good enough to attract the attention of European clubs. Firstly, he played for Porto, then became one of the shopping list of Dynamo Moscow. In that transfer window, Silva moved along with Derlei, Cícero, Danny and Nuno Frechaut. But spells with Porto and Dynamo Moscow were blighted by injuries and illness, and he returned to Brazil to rebuild his career with the club he supported in his youth.
In December 2008, Thiago Silva joined Milan under a €10 million agreement. Silva was officially registered as a Milan player effectively from July 2009, since the club had already signed two non-EU nationals during the 2008–09 season (namely, Andriy Shevchenko and Tabaré Viudez).
He made his non-competitive debut with a rossoneri jersey in a friendly match against Hannover on 21 January 2009. He played all 90 minutes for the Rossoneri in that match. He made his league debut in a 2–1 win over Siena.
Since joining Milan, Thiago Silva has been very effective, praised for his occasional surging runs forward. He has also formed arguably the best central defensive partnership in the Serie A with Alessandro Nesta. Thiago Silva provides the speed in the Milan defense that Nesta now lacks, as he is able to chase down virtually any striker in Serie A or in any other league around the world. This has made him arguably the best defender in Serie A. On 8 November 2009, he scored his first goal against Lazio, as well as an own goal. In Milan's season opener against Lecce, he scored the second goal in their 4–0 win. Milan went on to win their first Serie A title in seven years, with Thiago Silva playing a key role. Thiago Silva played 39 games for Milan that season, picking up only a single yellow card in the process. On 13 September 2011, he scored a last minute goal against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou from a corner kicked by Clarence Seedorf. That goal saved Milan from a defeat with the score ending at 2–2. This was his first goal in a European competition.
On 17 May 2011, Milan announced that Thiago Silva extended his contract to 30 June 2016.
On 27 November 2011, Thiago Silva was named as captain and scored the opening goal in a convincing 4–0 victory against Chievo.
