The excitement is building around Stamford Bridge regarding Estevao Willian’s arrival this summer, but he’s not the only highly rated Chelsea youngster tipped for greatness.
The injection of fantastic young talent into Chelsea’s squad is showing no signs of slowing down.
Estevao Willian, 18, will finally join up with the Blues in the summer after the Club World Cup tournament.
The Brazil international has been developing at a rapid rate for Palmeiras in the last year, but it’s nearly time for the wonderkid to complete his switch to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues fanbase should be eager to see Estevao play for them because the teenage winger looks like a special talent. Despite his youth, he’s already scored 23 goals in 73 first-team appearances for Palmeiras.
Chelsea’s plan with Estevao Willian is to integrate him into the first-team picture immediately from the 2025/26 campaign.
Chelsea rate Mike Penders in a similar way to Estevao Willian
Like Estevao, Chelsea announced the signing of young goalkeeper Mike Penders from Genk last summer ahead of their official arrival in 2025.
The 19-year-old gloveman has enjoyed a superb individual campaign as the starting keeper for Genk in Belgium. Will he be ready to force his way into first-team contention next season at Stamford Bridge, though?
Journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed that Penders has been “described internally” by people at Chelsea as another wonderkid with a major ceiling like Estevao.
Jacobs said on The London Is Blue Podcast: “Mike Penders, who is actually seen as Premier League ready, is kind of described internally at Chelsea in the same manner as Estevao Willian. In the sense that when the players are referred to, they’re seen as the real top profiles in their generations with high, high ceilings.
“It might come a season too early for Mike Penders to suddenly be Chelsea’s number one, but let’s sort of see what kind of impact he can make in pre-season. Then we’ll understand whether he’s going to be loaned out or whether he’s actually going to get some game time.”
Chelsea are planning a full goalkeeper review in the summer as they assess Penders, Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic and Filip Jorgensen in pre-season. Afterwards, it’ll become clearer who will start as the first-choice shot-stopper at Stamford Bridge next year.
Chelsea youngster Penders may be fairly unknown to supporters because he’s not had too much coverage in Belgium this year, but it’s very encouraging to hear that those inside the club rate him incredibly highly.
| Appearances | Goals conceded | Clean sheets | Penalties saved | Save percentage | Pass accuracy | Average match rating |
| 19 | 17 | 5 | 2/6 | 74.6% | 77.6% | 7.16 |
What Mike Penders said when he agreed Chelsea transfer
Back in August 2024, Penders’ transfer switch to Chelsea was confirmed.
The teenage Belgian goalkeeper shared via Instagram his immense pride about signing the deal for the future.
It’s a huge sign of faith from the club that Penders signed a contract that runs until 2032. Hopefully, he can be the long-term answer to solve the problem in between the sticks.
It would be unusual to see a goalkeeper so young start for a club of Chelsea’s size, but it does feel like the position is up for grabs.
