Chelsea signing Estevao Willian has just had one of his tougher matches for Palmeiras, which has earned him a small bit of criticism in the Brazilian media.
Chelsea confirmed this summer the signing of 17-year-old attacker Estevao Willian. Unfortunately, he won’t be joining up with the Blues squad until the summer of 2025 and will continue his development in his homeland.
Estevao has emerged as a key player for Brazilian top-flight club Palmeiras. He’s scored seven goals and made five assists in 30 first-team appearances for them.
The right-winger has represented Brazil internationally at youth level. But it’s recently been claimed by journalist Eduardo Burgos on X, Estevao may earn a senior Brazil call-up. If it happens, it would be during the international break in September.
Palmeiras suffered a 1-0 league defeat away to Botafogo the last 24 hours. Estevao kept his spot in the starting XI and played 81 minutes, but he just couldn’t provide the final ball on this occasion.
The teenage sensation has been in remarkable form lately in a Palmeiras shirt, so he’s allowed an off-game.
Apparently, Chelsea’s youngster found it difficult to impact the match with his dribbling, which is usually a key weapon of his in wide areas.
Brazilian newspaper Globo wrote: “Estevao Willian – 5.5/10.
“He was very well marked and couldn’t create as much as he is used to. He couldn’t finish from mid-range and had difficulty dribbling.”
Estevao Willian match statistics
FotMob data has provided the match stats from Estevao’s latest individual display. Even though he didn’t light up the pitch like in recent weeks, these sorts of performances will be a great learning curve in his development.
- Match rating – 6.4
- Minutes played – 81
- Total shots – 0
- Successful dribbles – 3/3
- Touches in opposition box – 6
- Touches – 31
- Accurate passes – 11/15
- Accurate crosses – 0/1
- Was fouled – 2
- Fouls committed – 2
- Tackles won 2/2
Chelsea supporters are going to be eager to see how much Estevao develops in the next year before his move to Stamford Bridge. The skillful forward is hopefully proof that investing in future stars is a wise transfer strategy.
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