Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has paid tribute to his former AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
He showed me his immense passion for Milan and taught me what it means to be a Milanista. It's a wonderful, important memory for me and I still say Forza Milan today," Thiago Silva told Tuttomercatoweb.
Leonardo negotiated everything, but President Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani helped me to understand what Milan really means. Their love for the club helped me understand that I could not make any mistakes."
Thiago Silva signed for Milan in 2009 from Fluminese.
He also recalled: We met with the President the day before a derby against Inter.
A player in the squad had a party that week and we thought that was it, he was in real trouble, but instead Berlusconi turned to our teammate and said 'if next time you don't invite me to the party, then you are out of Milan.' The day after, we won the derby!"