Thiago Silva injury: How long will Chelsea star be out?

Suraj Radia

• 28 Feb 2023 10:08 CST
• 2 min read

Chelsea have been dealt another huge injury blow after Thiago Silva suffered a knee injury that could see him miss an extended period of time for the Blues.

Silva was subbed off 19 minutes into Chelsea’s loss against Tottenham after colliding with Harry Kane and he underwent further scans on Monday to determine the extent of his injury.

Chelsea released a statement confirming that Silva had damaged his knee ligaments and the defender joins the likes of Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante and Armando Broja on the sidelines.

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Despite his age, Silva has been relatively injury-free during his time at Chelsea, only once being ruled out for more than two games, when he missed seven matches with a thigh issue in 2021.

Silva has played more minutes than any other Chelsea player this season and he recently agreed signed a new contract that will see him extend his stay at the club until next summer.

Wesley Fofana came on against Tottenham after recently returning to full fitness himself and the Frenchman will compete with Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile to replace Silva.

When will Thiago Silva be back from injury?

Silva is expected to miss up to six weeks of action, meaning he will likely be unavailable until the middle of April barring a speedy recovery, which could see him return after three weeks.

With the pressure already piling on manager Graham Potter after a run of just two wins in 15 games, the loss of Silva could prove catastrophic for Chelsea.

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Potter will be without his star defender for a host of pivotal fixtures including the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League knockout game against Dortmund, with the German side heading to Stamford Bridge leading 1-0 on aggregate.

A best-case absence of three weeks would see Silva miss games against Leeds, Leicester and Everton as well as the Dortmund match, with an international break scheduled for late March.

However, should Silva be ruled out for the entire six weeks, he could miss further games against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Wolves and Brighton, as well as the Champions League quarter finals if Chelsea qualify, with a return possible against Manchester United on April 22nd.