Cruzeiro midfielder Julio Baptista believes that his former club Real Madrid have done excellent business in bringing Lucas Silva to the Bernabeu.

Silva officially completed his move to the Spanish outfit on Monday, and the Brazilian joins with words of praise from Baptista, who represented Real Madrid between 2005 and 2008.

"Real Madrid have been fortunate in signing Lucas Silva. They have to be thinking of a long-term project because he's going to be a very important player," Baptista told Cadena SER.

"Lucas Silva is someone who can play in Europe as he has a very European style , but he is still not prepared and has to get used to Real Madrid.

"As a player he is an organiser. When he doesn't play the team notices his absence because he is very advanced for his age. He's similar to Xabi Alonso in that he has his qualities, while he also possesses a very powerful shot, which makes him dangerous."

Baptistao had been playing with Silva at Cruzeiro since 2013.