Adrien Silva has been a regular for Sampdoria this season, with 12 appearances in Serie A so far, as the Genoa club sit 15th in the league.
The 32-year-old made 26 appearances last season, again as a regular, and he’s enjoying his football again after a difficult period during what could have been the prime of his career.
Signing for Leicester City in the summer 2017 window, in a big money transfer, the midfielder had arrived as an important player from Sporting. However, he also arrived minutes too late, missing the deadline and having to wait until January to be registered as a player.
A blame game went on, with Sporting pointing the finger towards Leicester, and the Foxes saying it wasn’t down to them. That Bruno de Carvalho was president of the Lisbon club at the time made their statements not ones which could be taken at word value.
All of that set Silva back, yet he doesn’t believe it was the major reason behind his failed time at the Premier league club. Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport’s SportWeek magazine, he explained that a certain manager had a bigger negative impact on him than the transfer delay ever did.
Silva is quoted as saying: “I decided to measure myself in a more competitive championship and chose the Premier. Ranieri wanted me at Leicester, who had just won the championship, but it didn’t work out. Maybe I could have done more mentally, but the problem was not the delay of a few seconds with which my contract was deposited, and forced me to wait until January before taking the field, or my adaptability
to English football.
“The problem was that in the meantime Ranieri had been replaced by Puel, and Puel has never looked at me. I can accept that not everyone likes me, but then you have to let me be free to go, and for two years he hasn’t. I missed a few trains.”
Claude Puel was at Leicester City from October 2017 to February 2019, and it was only weeks before the end of his spell with the Foxes that he allowed Adrien Silva to leave, on loan to AS Monaco.
