Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has expressed his delight at completing the free signing of Thiago Silva and is 'excited' to see the impact he will have on the Blues' youngsters.
The Brazilian was one of three defensive arrivals this week alongside Ben Chilwell and Malang Sarr.
Silva has signed a one-year deal with the option of a further 12-month stay after leaving Paris Saint-Germain for free.
At the age of 35, Silva will add some much-needed experience to Chelsea's dressing room and their defence, after a season of bringing through the club's brightest youth prospects, which has left Lampard excited.
"With Thiago Silva, we are looking at a player I know very well, pretty much as we all do," Lampard told the Chelsea website.
"He brings great experience for us, he is still playing at a massively high level, as we saw in the Champions League final and games towards the final, so I expect him to come and bring that, bring his experience, leadership and his qualities.
"It is going to be very important for us.
"We have a relatively young squad, we saw that last year, there were games afterwards when I was probably asking for more voice and some more leadership in different ways and he brings that naturally straight away, and also on the pitch he can help talk and be the player that he is which means affecting others.
"On those levels, I hope he brings that. I am pretty sure he will with the qualities we know he has, so I am excited for when he joins up."
