Former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach Paul Clement has revealed that Frank Lampard texted him to ask his opinion about Thiago Silva before Chelsea moved to sign the defender.
The 36-year-old centre-back has had a transformative impact at Stamford Bridge this season and has provided the leadership to help the club overcome last season's defensive problems.
Chelsea have the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season and they are now competing among the top contenders for the title.
Having worked at PSG as well as at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich with Ancelotti, Clement was well placed to offer his advice to the Blues manager and he only has positive feedback for Lampard.
"I had a brief text exchange with Frank about him and I shared my opinion and I am glad he took him and that it has worked out up until this point," Clement told Goal.
"It was definitely a different time when I worked with him at PSG. He was 27 and he was a big signing at the time. For PSG to sign a major player at an amazing age from Milan at that time was a big coup. He was at the peak of his powers.
"PSG got the best out of him for sure over many seasons. He has an incredible trophy tally, I think it was over 30 trophies with leagues, cups and close to the Champions League but he didn’t quite get there.
"He is a really good player with the ball at his feet. He was quick and athletic without being the biggest but he is tough and aggressive. He is a leader and a winner. Since he has gone to Chelsea, at 36 years old, to go in at that level of the competition, he has done extremely well."
As well as producing young players, Chelsea also develop high-quality coaching staff and the club are proud of Clement after he progressed through the youth team to become Ancelotti's assistant during Lampard's time at Stamford Bridge as a player and now a first-team coach in his own right.
Working with Ancelotti took Clement around Europe - with domestic and Champions League titles following - and he has also gained experience as a manager. He is back working overseas at Monaco's sister club Cercle Brugge and drawing on his experiences of working abroad after PSG raised his game.
"PSG was my first experience working abroad in a different language which was incredibly challenging at the start but it opened my mind to a whole new way of working and not being afraid to go and work abroad," he added.
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"It was a difficult challenge for Carlo and me. For him, it was a club in transition having just been taken over by the Qataris. It was a big investment on the playing side which was in the team but less so behind the team.
"We enjoyed the challenge of trying to build things behind the scenes as well as on the pitch. It took a bit of time because, in the first six months, we weren’t able to deliver the title.
"We went in halfway through the season but the next year, with the addition of Thiago Silva and a whole host of others, Adrien Rabiot, Kingsley Coman, we delivered the title for the first time in 19 years so I think the fans were very happy with Carlo.
"The elite players want the best coaching so you have to provide it. You are challenged all the time and if you challenge them to do well on the pitch, then you are having to do that in the training sessions to produce a high level of understanding.
"I certainly felt that with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and working with him. Him having been a top player at Barcelona, Inter, Juventus and having played with top players, then it feeds into them.
"I felt it at Real Madrid with 15 or so world-class players then they are used to high standards of coaching and organisations and you are there to provide that for them. I was constantly getting stretched to push myself and think at a high level. I felt that in those years for sure."
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