In the 2019–20 season, Silva scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 thrashing of Watford in the Premier League on 21 September. Days later, he was accused of being racist towards his teammate Benjamin Mendy in a tweet which likened the player's appearance to that of a dark-skinned advertising mascot; Mendy said that he was not offended. In November, Silva was banned for one match and fined £50,000 for the tweet. In October 2019, Silva was nominated as one amongst 30 candidates for Ballon d´Or.