Chelsea’s veteran defender, Thiago Silva has revealed he told the West London club to sign Lucas Paqueta.

West Ham confirmed on the transfer deadline day that they had completed a ‘club-record deal’ for Brazil midfielder Paqueta.

In a deal that could rise to £50m, the Hammers paid an initial £36.5m for the Lyon star.

Silva said he spoke to the Blues about exploring the possibility of signing the midfielder before he made a move to their London rivals West Ham.

“I heard he was about to leave Lyon [so] had some conversations here with some people, but unfortunately things didn’t work out,” Silva told ESPN Brazil.

“We weren’t 100% sure he would leave Lyon. The last week arrived, this thing got a lot [clearer], and we had some other priorities because of the injuries we have in the team.