Chelsea captain Thiago Silva was not chosen by Mauricio Pochettino to be the new club captain - and it appears the Brazilian is not interested in taking the armband even on a stand-in basis.
Upon taking over at Stamford Bridge this summer, Pochettino opted to make defender Reece James the new full-time Chelsea skipper, following Cesar Azpilicueta's departure.
However, that decision has had to be reviewed after James suffered a hamstring injury in training, leading to Chelsea needing to find a fresh player to take the armband until the defender returns to action.
Of late, fellow defender Ben Chilwell has taken the captaincy against West Ham United and Luton Town.In both games, Chilwell has passed the armband on to experienced defender Silva, but the Brazilian has himself passed it on to January signing Enzo Fernandez, refusing to take the captaincy even for part of a game.
Pochettino recently explained the decision to hand the captaincy to James, rather than Silva, who seems to be showing little interest in having the captaincy in any form.
The Chelsea boss said: "Our first conversation was really good. I explained my ideas and the project, and I think he was agreeing, listening to ideas. He was really humble.
"I said to him, 'Look Thiago, I know you really well but to assure you that you are going to play, like any player, you need to deserve to play.'"He is a fantastic footballer and has been in his career. A good thing happened, it surprised me and I think we created a good and respectful relationship. He is going to play and show his quality. In a young squad — to have some experience like him — is always very helpful.
"For different reasons and circumstances, I am looking at not only the present but the future. It was a great opportunity, because he is ready, for Reece to be the captain.
"When the player is clever like Thiago, who is 38 and nearly 39. Do you think he is thinking about needing the armband? He is a captain as well like Reece and Chilwell.
"You don’t need the armband on your arm to feel captain. He is captain also. He is going to help Chilwell and Reece to be great captains for the club."
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