Joe Cole has rated Thiago Silva as the Premier League’s second-best centre-back after Virgil van Dijk.

The former Chelsea winger had his doubt over the suitability of the 36-year-old for the Premier League when it was reported that the Brazilian was coming to Stamford Bridge.

That’s according to Joe Cole, who has hailed the veteran Chelsea star as a ‘Rolls Royce’ of a player.

Speaking about Silva on BT Sport, Cole said: “He needed time to get into it and now he looks like a Rolls Royce and one of the best centre-halves in the league.

“I do not think they make centre-halves like him anymore. Apart from Van Dijk, I would say he is the best in the League. He has brought so much quality, on the pitch and off the pitch.

“For [Antonio] Rudiger, [Kurt] Zouma and [Andreas] Christensen next to him, he is a standard bearer.

“That is the level you want to get at if you want to class yourself as a world-class centre-half.”