Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has hailed the potential of Brazil teammate Eder Militao.

Militao has replicated his outstanding displays with Real Madrid in the Copa America, where he has started in each of Brazil's four matches so far, and Thiago Silva believes that this is just the start for the 23-year-old.

"I believe that, from now, with Sergio Ramos leaving, [Militao] will be one of the pillars of Real Madrid," Thiago Silva said in a press conference on Wednesday.

The Chelsea centre-back also revealed the praise he gave Militao after the Champions League semi-final.

"I told him at the end of our match [in the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Real Madrid] to keep playing like that, that he was having a great year and so he should carry on playing like that because it would mean that we would be playing together for the national team for a long time to come," he said.

"Militao trusts in his speed a lot. He is a very fast player and, at times, he stays a little high up because he knows that he will recover.

"That is something that I learned when I arrived at AC Milan. That is what I try to teach him."