Thiago Silva has suggested that the Champions League final may not be his last game for Paris Saint-Germain, with there still a chance that the Brazilian defender could land a new contract.
As things stand, the outing against Bayern Munich in the European showpiece on Sunday will be the 35-year-old’s last for his current employers.
After eight years in the French capital, the experienced South American is approaching free agency.
He has taken in well over 300 appearances for PSG, helping them to seven Ligue 1 titles, but no fresh terms have been agreed to keep him at Parc des Princes.
Silva is expected to move on after facing Bayern in Lisbon on Sunday, with Chelsea said to be among his many suitors, but nothing is being ruled out at this stage.
“As I played against Atalanta [in the Champions League quarter-finals], I wasn’t sure if that was going to be my last one, or if I’d have the chance to play another game,” Silva told PSG’s official website.
“And I can’t help having that thought in my mind, I think it’s just natural. But I’m quite calm and quite happy with everything I’ve gone through at the club. And if this turns out to be my last game, I’ll be happy with it.
“I was able to give everything that I could. And if I may go on playing for the club, then we’ll have a talk and decide what is best. But the most important is what we’ve been doing. This is history in the making, and we don’t plan to stop short [from winning the trophy].”
If Silva is to bid farewell to Paris, then he says he will depart with many fond memories to look back on.
He added: “I feel happy, first, and very honoured to have been part of this team, having helped the evolution of the team. I got here in the 2012-2013 season, the team had recently welcomed the new owners from Qatar, with a goal, with big aspirations.
“But in this whole process, we had a few disappointments, some joys, but the disappointments were very strong, the pressure was very strong. Especially on the team’s leaders, me, [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] before me. We were under a lot of pressure for being leaders.
“And, if we have got to this final, if we are celebrating to have reached this final, we also have to congratulate the players that came first, [Javier] Pastore, who left; Ibra, Maxwell, [Salvatore] Sirigu…They helped to rebuild the team, and if we got this far, we have to look back and thank those people.
“But I’m very grateful, I’ll be grateful my whole life for everything I’ve experienced here. And I want to keep making history. We already made history by getting to the semi-finals after 25 years.
“And now, getting to a final that we dreamed of, that we worked so much for, we’re really happy, but as I said before, we don’t want to stop this at the semi-finals.”