Estevao Willian will soon be following in the footsteps of some Brazilian greats when he represents Chelsea for the first time.
It won’t be long before Estevao Willian, 18, officially arrives at Chelsea ahead of next season. He is playing for Palmeiras for the final time at this summer’s Club World Cup tournament before his move to Stamford Bridge.
The South American attacker is currently with Brazil’s senior team ahead of a couple of World Cup qualifiers.
Blues fans will enjoy hearing that Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has called Estevao Willian a “special talent” after working with him for the first time this week.
Former Chelsea star Willian offers advice for Estevao Willian
Chelsea’s greatest Brazilian players include the likes of Thiago Silva and Willian. It is hoped that Estevao will become the latest Brazilian talent to succeed in West London.
Willian, who played for Chelsea between 2013 and 2020, made a significant impact at the club as a skilful winger, winning seven trophies in total.
He has warned 18-year-old rising star Estevao that the step up to English football will be quite significant after developing with Palmeiras.
Willian told ESPN: “Without a doubt, he has a lot of potential, a lot of quality. The player has the advantage of still being so young, but with great potential like Lamine Yamal, they have a similar style.
“I hope that he can be very successful here in England playing for Chelsea, he can win many titles, score a lot of goals with the Chelsea jersey and he will help to win titles over the years.”
“My advice is that he dedicate himself to the fullest. In England, football is quite different to what he is used to. When he gets here I think he needs some extra work at the club.
“I’m sure he has a very good head. There’s no need to argue about his quality, he has more than enough quality to play for a big club like Chelsea. But I hope he can adapt as quickly as possible and get into the style of play here to be very successful.”
Jason Cundy’s prediction on Estevao is that he may need time to get up to full speed. In fairness, the teenager is preparing to come to European football for the first time in his career, and he’s going straight in the deep end with the Premier League.
The good news is that Estevao can already fall back on plenty of first-team experience from the last couple of seasons.
| Appearnaces | Goals | Assists |
| 78 | 26 | 15 |
Where will Chelsea use Estevao Willian?
Like a lot of Chelsea’s forward players, Estevao does have the versatility to play a number of different positions on a football pitch.
While the creative talent can operate effectively from a central No.10 position, he does a lot of his best work on the right wing, where he can cut infield on his stronger left foot.
Previous reports in 2024 suggested that Estevao has informed Chelsea he wants to play centrally in a No.10 role when he joins the club. However, we’ve got serious doubts that he’ll be able to dislodge Cole Palmer from the position straight away.
Given that next season will be his first in English football, Estevao’s most likely route could be to come in and out of the side as a winger.
