“You can see that he is a huge talent,” Enzo Maresca said with a beaming grin on his face. He was talking about Estevao Willian on a “perfect night” for the Chelsea head coach earlier this month.
Chelsea progressed into the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, a competition they eventually ended up being triumphant in, against Palmeiras on July 4. Estevao, who will officially team up with the Blues once his holiday is over, scored for the Brazilian side in the second half at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“You can see that he is a fantastic player,” Maresca continued when asked if Estevao is ready for the Premier League. “And the only thing for me is when you come from South America or in general from the other part of the world, Europe, you need to adapt. So, we’re going to help him adapt.
“First of all, to be happy, to continue to enjoy football. And we don’t have any doubt because he’s so good that he’s going to be a very important player for Chelsea.”
Since then, a lot has changed for Chelsea and Maresca. Noni Madueke is on the verge of completing a £52million move to Arsenal. Madueke, who featured 46 times for the Blues in all competitions throughout the course of the 2024/25 campaign, plays in a similar position to Estevao and his departure opens up a door for the teenage Brazilian.
So essentially, there is a right wing slot that has become open at Stamford Bridge, although there is a slight problem for Estevao. That comes in the form of Pedro Neto, who was sensational for Chelsea throughout the Club World Cup. The Portugal international played on both the left and right during the Premier League season, but he really excelled on the latter in the United States.
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Maresca has always viewed Neto as more of a right-sided wide man and he looks set to start the season on that flank. For Estevao, patience will be required. After all, he is just 18 years old and coming from a different culture, so a settling in period is completely necessary for the Brazil international.
Questions over how the teenager might adapt to the physicality of the Premier League will remain until he has an opportunity to prove himself. However, some of those were answered – somewhat, at the very least – in the match against Chelsea earlier this month.
Marc Cucurella, one of the most aggressive and physical full-backs in the English top-flight, made it his job to rough Estevao up in Philadelphia. While Cucurella on the whole did a great job against the exciting teenager, Estevao still managed to leave his mark on the match when he scored the equalising goal for Palmeiras.
Post-match, it was rather telling how emotional Abel Ferreira, the Palmeiras manager, was. Considering he is losing a player he has only worked with for less than two years, Ferreira was visibly and audibly upset he had to let go of Estevao.
“He’s my son, he’s my son,” Ferreira explained. “I have two daughters but he is my son. I spoke with Maresca, he is a nice coach. He bought an amazing player but more than this, you got an amazing person. He is one guy who is 18 years old, so is an amazing player also. You need to take care of him. Embrace him.
“He will make mistakes at the beginning, for sure, but he is an amazing player with a lot of skills. He can win one game on his own, with the dribbling, the shots. I told him the sun doesn’t appear as much in England. The night comes early. But for sure, Chelsea have all conditions to help him because he is a fantastic player.”
