Thiago Silva has confirmed comments that he rejected a last-ditch attempt to stay at Paris Saint-Germain having already received an offer from Chelsea.
The 36-year-old defender is regarded as a legend at Parc des Princes having won seven league titles as well as 11 domestic cups in his eight years at the club.
Having seen his agent Paulo Tonietto come out and say that PSG wanted to keep Silva, the defender explained that he thought Thomas Tuchel's side were ready to let him go after the Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich in August.
He accepted Chelsea's offer on the Monday after the game, by which time it was too late for PSG sporting director Leonardo to stop his exit, with his contract having expired.
"To tell the truth, this started during the lockdown period," Silva said at his Chelsea unveiling when reflecting on his exit from PSG. "Leonardo called me and he asked me to extend my contract for two months to cover the Champions League finals.
"I said 'okay, no problem', because I wanted to continue and remain in the group until the end to finish the things that I started with. I thought that in two months after the Champions League that I wouldn’t be there any longer.
"I spoke to my agent about this and we looked into other options on my future and after the Champions League final, returning to Paris, after we had meetings with Leonardo and I informed him of my intentions and discussed the possibility of staying.
"But on that Monday morning after it, I had already given the OK to Chelsea and I made that decision. But, I am really grateful to PSG, for everything they did for my life and the life of my family.
"But I am at a new project and club where I am highly motivated and I am very prepared for this new challenge in the Premier League. I hope to contribute as much as possible to the young players here who have tremendous quality."
Silva will now make his Chelsea debut in the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Barnsley on Wednesday, having been earmarked for the match by Lampard just under a month after signing for the club.
"I will say that I am very well prepared, I have been working hard towards this," he added. "Tomorrow is my first game and I feel like it will go well given the way that we are training.
"Little by little, we will be working on getting to the level to get to where we want to be and little by little we will get better to be at the level we want to be."
