Thiago Silva has opened up on his desire to one day return to his former club Fluminense, where he made 143 appearances as a young defender.

Before moving to Europe with AC Milan in 2009, Silva played at the top-tier Brazilian club for three years, making 143 appearances and winning the Copa do Brasil.

As the former Brazil captain comes up to 12 years of playing in Europe, first with Milan, then with PSG and now with Chelsea, the 36-year-old did not sugarcoat the fact that he is keen on a return to his homeland – his contract at Stamford Bridge expires at the end of this season, though he does a one-year option to extend.

He told TNT Sports: “I do have this dream of returning to wearing the shirt of Fluminense, everyone knows my desire, it was expressed by [manager] Marcao recently also in an interview.

“But it’s something I prefer to leave ahead to see how things are going to happen, right. It’s a difficult decision to be made, but I’m really thinking with great affection and suddenly have this Libertadores mission again.”

When Silva moved to Milan in 2009, he was coming in to act as a replacement of sorts for club legend Paolo Maldini, who was retiring that year at the age of 40 following a trophy-laden 25-year career at the San Siro.

Though the pair never played together, Silva admits to being inspired by Maldini to play as long as he can, with the age of 40 a milestone he wants to reach.

“Those last six months of his career were the six months when I had arrived at Milan and couldn’t play,” Silva recalled.

“I identified a lot with Paulo and in this little interaction that I had with him, I could see that suddenly I was preparing well and could reach 40 years of age playing wherever I wanted, you know.

“And Paulo, for sure, he’s certainly somebody that I greatly admired, a mirror so that I can reach these 40 years, which is the age I have in my head that maybe I could end my career.”