Thiago Silva has been a vital figure for Chelsea again in his third season with the club, as the 38-year-old continued to defy the passing of the years to provide a composed and intelligent figure at the base of our defence.

The winner of our Player of the Season award is decided by an online poll of supporters and the Brazilian takes the 2022/23 honour in a landslide, with 61 per cent of those taking part casting their vote in favour of the defender, making him only the second person from that country to receive the award, following Willian in 2016.

Enzo Fernandez’s impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge following his January arrival from Benfica was underlined, as the World Cup winner came second in the voting ahead of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in third.

However, it is Thiago Silva who takes the award, having come second to Mason Mount in last year’s end-of-season vote.

Despite his increasing years, only one outfield player – Kai Havertz – started more games for Chelsea in 2022/23 than Thiago Silva and the 38-year-old did so on many occasions while wearing the captain’s armband, especially in the second half of the season, following the departure of vice-captain Jorginho.

The centre-back was undoubtedly a key leadership figure within the squad as a number of new faces adapted to life at Stamford Bridge in a young team.

Even in the toughest moments of the season, Thiago Silva continued to exude class and composure, underlining his status as one of the greatest defenders of his generation, and one of the first names on the Blues team sheet throughout his three years here.

The statistics show his worth as our defensive lynchpin too, with his 33 interceptions, 106 clearances, 112 individual duels won and 28 shots blocked in the Premier League so far this season all the highest number by any Chelsea player, as are his 1,968 completed passes and 91.3 per cent passing accuracy, being an equally important figure on the ball as we looked to play out from the back.

Thiago Silva played a key role for the Blues right from the start of the season, playing every minute of our first seven games, a run which culminated in assists in back-to-back league games as he made his mark at the other end of the pitch too, setting up the equalisers by Ben Chilwell against West Ham United and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Crystal Palace as we came behind to win 2-1 in both games.

The defender continued to be the man for the big occasion, helping us secure clean sheets in a pair of Champions League wins over his former club AC Milan, 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and then 2-0 on an emotional return to the San Siro. It was telling that the only Champions League group game he missed was also the only one we lost, away at Dinamo Zagreb in our first match.

He continued to be an ever-present for the Blues before and after captaining Brazil to the World Cup quarter-finals, until a knee injury ruled him out for much of March and April, with the team’s form suffering in his absence.

However, Thiago Silva featured in every minute of our Premier League campaign since returning, up to Wednesday's match at Manchester United, and continues to prove his immense value to the team with his timeless composure, consistency and peerless reading of the game making him a worthy addition to the list of Chelsea Player of the Season winners.

Congratulations on your well-deserved honour Thiago!

Chelsea men's Player of the Season winners