Frank Lampard insists Thiago Silva is without doubt one of the best centre backs in the world.
But the Chelsea manager feels the Brazilian needs to help the club win trophies to put him on the same pedestal as the best Premier League defenders in recent years.
Silva, 36, has played a big part in transforming a Chelsea defence that was shaky at the start of the season but has now kept five successive clean sheets ahead of Saturday’s home game against Sheffield United.
Lampard said of Silva, who has almost 30 trophies for club and country: ‘In terms of his career, he absolutely walks into that bracket of top centre backs.
‘I keep talking about the impact he is having, and he can be a big deal for us, but we need more.
‘We are talking about teams that have won things and we are striving for that.’
Meanwhile, Lampard has issued an impassioned plea for more to be done to support football’s victims of dementia.
‘It’s something that concerns me,’ Lampard said. ‘It is causing a lot of suffering for families.
‘These great players, people that I look up to, we have to support them.’
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