Thiago Silva has told his soon to be ex-Chelsea team-mates that, in Brazil, their performances would've seen them targeted with rocks by fans.
The Brazilian, now 39, will leave the Blues at the end of the season having joined from PSG on a free in 2020. He joined a team that were competing for silverware, winning the Champions League in his first season. Since then he's seen the club endure a steep decline.
That coincided with the departure of Roman Abramovich and the new owners have embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive, bringing in a host of names who are yet to deliver on their price tags. Silva maintains that the current season has not lived up to expectations and urged the players to put the team before themselves.
He told Sky Sports : "Thiago knows what it means to wear a Chelsea shirt, you know. And if I have a message to send to the boys that are here today, I hope they understand that everything they did to get to Chelsea has to be worth it. Because the season we're having is not worthy of Chelsea. It's not.
"And I think they have to do more next year, they need to do more. If you look at the games, the fans never left the team, never. We were in ninth place, eighth, right? And the fans were always there. They booed us off a little at the end of the match, but they're always there in the stands, always with 40,000, 45,000.
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"If we were somewhere else, they could throw rocks at us - we know that happens in our country. So these boys need to be aware that Chelsea has to fight for the top positions. If we take a little of our ego and put it in favour of the team, I think it will work. If we don't do that, the situation will hardly change unfortunately."
Chelsea have enjoyed a late season surge up the table with Mauricio Pochettino finally getting a tune out of his expensively-assembled squad. A win on the final day could yet see them finish fifth, but next year they'll have to do without their defensive linchpin.
The Blues have been inconsistent for much of the season (GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)Despite his age, the veteran Brazilian has been a key presence at the heart of defence with Pochettino opting for a host of differing partnerships in his backline - many of them including Silva such is his influence and experience. The Argentine admits that he will leave a notable hole.
"We will miss him," he said. "Thiago has had a fantastic career and here in his time at Chelsea. We are going to miss him because always when a big character leaves the club, we are going to miss them."
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