#3 Thiago Silva
Thiago Silva signed for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 for a fee of €42 million from Italian giants AC Milan, making him the second most expensive defender in the history of football. Regarded as one of the best defenders on the planet, the Brazilian has gone on to make over 150 appearances for the club.
Alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, his move represented the firepower PSG had gathered, symbolic of the Qatar Sports Investment’s revolution. An integral cog in the PSG machinery, Thiago Silva brought to the French league a new level of defending.
His class on the ball, technical ability, strength and aerial competence was something the league had not seen for a while. Along with these attributes, Thiago is renowned for his superb reading of the game. The Brazilian international brought defensive stability to a PSG side that lacked it.
Probably one of PSG’s best defenders of all time, Silva has won four consecutive Ligue 1 titles, three consecutive Coupe de La Ligue titles and two consecutive Coupe de France. When he finally decides to leave PSG, he will leave as their best defender of all time.
Alain Roche, ex-PSG defender in 2013 paid Thiago the ultimate compliment saying, "He is the Messi of defenders. The question is no longer if he is the best defender in the world, because he is quite simply one of the best players in the world — better than Cannavaro when he won the Ballon D'Or."
