Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel lavished praise on veteran center back Thiago Silva.

The Brazilian was at his very best against Tottenham at the weekend, as Chelsea secured a comfortable 3-0 away success over their London rivals.

Silva, who signed from Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer last summer, has rolled back the years under Tuchel.

Asked about Silva, Tuchel told reporters during a pre-match press conference ahead of their Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa, per football.london:

"From the first day I met him in Paris and of course I am happy to have him here in the squad, he is a fantastic professional and was an outstanding captain.

"What a fantastic person and the approach from him to recovery, to live this life as a professional player is outstanding. What he eats, when he eats, how he recovers, how he trains.

"When he is on the pitch he trains full on. There is no training session where he is trying to hold back, he is one of the most intensive guys in training, physically.

"He gets better and better with his experience and to step out of what he knew and of his status in Paris, to step out of this and enter into the hardest competition in Europe at this age shows what a competitor he is.

"I don't look at age, we just look at performances and from there we don't care if you are super young or if you are a bit older like Thiago. This does not matter.

"He is in a very good moment since a long time and hopefully he can preserve this momentum and his performances because it was well-deserved he was man of the match."