New £48m Chelsea signing sends exciting message to Enzo Maresca as Moises Caicedo feelings clear

The Club World Cup has arrived and Chelsea’s main focus will be on group games against LA FC, Flamengo and ES Tunis, but eyes may also be drawn toward Palmeiras.

The Brazilian outfit are one of ten South American clubs competing with their domestic season interrupted so they can feature in FIFA’s new tournament.

Thus far, five games have been played with Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Botafogo all winning their opening fixtures.

Al Ahly, Inter Miami, Porto and Palmeiras have all played out goalless draws while Auckland City, Atletico Madrid and Seattle Sounders are the teams to have suffered defeat.

The big headlines thus far include Bayern hitting double figures, PSG continuing their dominance and Lionel Messi drawing a blank. From a Chelsea perspective, though they have yet to play, some focus will have been on Palmeiras and Estevao Willian.

A deal totalling £48 million (€57m) was agreed between the two parties last year with Estevao remaining in his home country until he turned 18. That date officially arrived in late April but he has continued featuring for Palmeiras since then.

Alongside a senior call-up to the Brazil squad, Estevao has continued impressing for Palmeiras and just a few a weeks ago he netted a brace in a 3-0 cup victory over Ceara with one of those a stunning solo goal. He also scored during a 6-0 win against Sporting Cristal just before Palmeiras travelled to the United States.

On the world stage, the teenager has shown his quality again with a bright display and one shot on target. Despite only being on the pitch for 65 minutes and the game ending goalless, he was awarded the player of the match trophy.

After not losing Palmeiras will fancy their chances of advancing out of the group stage with games against Al Ahly and Inter Miami to come.

Following his display against Porto, Estevao posted a clear message to Instagram. “Deus é bom tempo todo [hands together emoji]. Superior player of the March. The first part of that message roughly translates into English as, “God it’s good time all the time”, with the latter part seemingly referencing his individual award.

Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo also liked the post from his new team-mate though it is unclear when Estevao could make his Chelsea debut with a break likely for him after the Club World Cup and ahead of the new campaign.

Though a loan to Strasbourg seems the obvious next step, he could actually become part of Maresca’s first-team plans immediately. That is now more likely as Kendry Paez is set to join the French club on a temporary basis.