Chelsea return to action on Saturday night, with a fourth consecutive London derby to commence the Premier League season, taking on West London rivals Brentford.
If Enzo Maresca's side are going to make it three wins in a row, they're going to have to do so without Cole Palmer.
Cole-Palmer-Chelsea
The Blues' talisman exacerbated a groin injury during the warm-up ahead of the match against West Ham, withdrawing from that game at the very last minute, subsequently sitting out the victory over Fulham, as well as England's two World Cup qualifiers.
Thus, Palmer is highly unlikely to feature at the Gtech Community Stadium, so which of Chelsea's array of attacking superstars is best-equipped to fill his void, and who could be poised to make their debut for the club?
Alejandro Garnacho: Chelsea debut incoming?
A fortnight ago, in a deal that had been anticipated for many months, Alejandro Garnacho finally completed his £40m move from Manchester United to Chelsea.
The Argentine international had been told to find a new club by Rúben Amorim before last season had even concluded, spending the summer as part of Man United's infamous bomb squad, before belatedly finalising the switch to Stamford Bridge in the final few days of the window.
Garnacho-Man-Utd-Lyon
However, it remains to be seen how ready the 21-year-old is to contribute.
He did not feature at all for Manchester United during pre-season, not even training with the main group of players, meaning that it's now 115 days since he last played a match, competitive or otherwise, this the Europa League Final defeat to Tottenham, seeing 19 minutes off the bench in Bilbao.
Garnacho has had a fortnight at Cobham to get up to speed, having not been called up by Argentina, but is surely unlikely to be thrown in from the start at Brentford on Saturday night, so which of Chelsea's other young sensations is best-placed to take up the creative mantle in Palmer's continued absence?
Chelsea youngster destined to reach Palmer's level
In a summer of many signings, Chelsea paying £29m for Estêvão Willian could prove to be the bargain of the window, even if the deal does reach £52m, if all the add-ons are triggered.
During the summer, supporters were given an amuse bouche of what was to come when the teenager scored this stunning equaliser for Palmeiras against his future employers during the Club World Cup quarter-finals in Philadelphia.
Since swapping São Paulo for Stamford Bridge, Estêvão has quickly been able to establish himself as a key figure in Maresca's side, scoring during a pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen, starting their last two Premier League fixtures.
The table below underlines his importance, with the obvious caveat that it's only a small sample size.
Estêvão 2025/26 PL stats
Stats
Minutes
Expected goals
Expected assists
Shots
Shots on target
Shot-creating actions
Goal-creating actions
Big chances created
Big chances missed
Successful dribbles per 90
Progressive carries
Carries into the area
Touches in the area
via FBref.com and SofaScore
As the table documents, despite being yet to register a goal or an assist in his burgeoning Premier League career, Estêvão has certainly contributed in a Chelsea shirt so far, ranked particularly highly in terms of shots, chances created and dribbling, registering both the most carries into the opposition penalty area, as well as the most touches in the attacking box.
When looking at last season's statistics, Palmer was out on his own for the vast majority of attacking metrics, clear of all of his teammates, but Estêvão is showing early signs of being able to match the Englishman.
estevao-chelsea
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout has certainly been impressed, asserting that he has a "huge future ahead", while Brazil's all-time record goalscorer Neymar believes the "big talent" is "surging in Brazilian football", adding "I think he will be a genius".
The 18-year-old has also been compared to a different Brazilian superstar, with teammate João Pedro exclaiming "playing for Brazil and Chelsea at 18, oh my God", before forecasting that "he’s going to be like Vinícius Júnior.”
Thus, in the absence of Palmer, this could be Estêvão's team, for the next few weeks at least, and it would surprise no one if he bagged his first goal in Blue at Brentford this weekend.