They aren't exactly the same sort of players but I suppose he could fill that role as the player who can pick up the ball from the defense.
Tiago left Chelsea because he didn't want to sit on the bench, so there was no way in hell he would sign for Milan knowing he'd only be a backup. I think Tiago was pretty much set on coming to Juventus, so filling out the forms and negotiating a deal for Lyon was the only difficult procedure in this case.
Tiago is a very intelligent player.