Silva begs Chelsea player not to leave, as Raine Group blasted for giving special treatment to latest bidder
According to reports, Thiago Silva, has spoken about the importance of team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta, amid reports linking him with a move to Barcelona this summer.
Azpilicueta has made over 450 appearances for the Blues since signing from Marseille in the summer of 2012.
Azpilicueta is entering the final months of his Chelsea contract though some reports claim an extension was triggered before sanctions were placed on the club.
“Cesar Azpilicueta, since I arrived, was one of my main sources of support,” Silva told Mundo Deportivo.
“There are players who have what it takes to be captain and he is one of them. He is a player who seeks union, who tries to help others. He is a spectacular footballer and a super-professional who, with certainty, deserves to be where is. Azpilicueta has beastly conditions.”
Raine Group blasted for giving special treatment to latest bidder
Raine Group, the New York-based bank overseeing the sale of Chelsea, have been accused of giving preferential treatment to the Ricketts family in the race to buy Chelsea.
Rival groups bidding for Chelsea are angry that Raine Group and Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck had facilitated a meeting between Tom Ricketts and Paul Canoville.
Chelsea legend Canoville had previously called for the Ricketts bid to be rejected because of racist comments made by the head of the family, Joe.
Despite Raine Group telling the four shortlisted bidders not to make contact with the Chelsea executive during the sale process, the Ricketts family had met Buck.
Buck alongside Chelsea directors Marina Granovskaia and Eugene Tenenbaum will decide who wins the bid to buy Chelsea.
“If they want the Ricketts family to buy the club from Roman Abramovich, just tell the rest of us now and spare us what is an awful lot of hard work,” the bid adviser told The Times.
The bid insider said: “Why has Bruce helped Ricketts to organise this meeting?”
“It’s a joke. He’s actually helping them to cleanse their reputation when we have all been told we can’t speak to the Chelsea executive until we have the opportunity to meet them next week. We see it as a breach of the rules of the process; a failure to follow the instructions.”