Enzo Maresca has just been on TNT Sport after Chelsea’s 5-1 spanking of Ajax, and of course what everyone wanted to know about was Estevao Willian.
The Brazilian won and then scored a penalty for his first Champions League goal. He could have had a couple more, with a bicycle kick flying wide and another chance nudged just past the post.
Enzo Maresca compares Palmer and Estevao
Estevao celebrates his first Champions League goal.
Estevao celebrates his first Champions League goal. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
“I think in the Premier League he needs a little more time. I think now he’s more of a winger, but he will end up playing inside the pitch, as a pocket player. For me it’s very, very similar to Cole Palmer,” the manager said.
“I had Cole at a similar age at Man City’s Under-23s. They are very similar, and Cole started playing wide because he needed to build up a little his physicality. Now he’s playing inside. And with Estevao I think we’ll see something similar. Now he’s playing wide, but in the future he will be more of an inside player.”
We actually quite like seeing Palmer playing from the right too. But there’s no doubt that playing in the middle requires more refinement, mentally as well as physically. It shouldn’t be long before both of them are in the team together, making trouble no matter where they’re placed.
You can see Maresca speaking in the clip embedded here:
Enzo Maresca speaks on the similarities of Estevão and Cole Palmer 🗣️@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/lJj5hMPzFy
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 22, 2025
In other news…
Wesley Fofana was hurting in the second half tonight, but didn’t get what he wanted when he made an unusual request of manager Enzo Maresca.
Enzo Fernandez kept up his sensational Stamford Bridge record with another goal. He could have had two, had he not handed the second penalty to Estevao to break a record of his own.
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