In speaking to the media before the upcoming match with Wolves in the Premier League, Enzo Maresca provided an update on one of his prized attackers. While he had more negative updates on the status of Romeo Lavia, who they don’t know the extent of his injury yet, he did have a positive one on an attacking option.
Enzo Maresca Deems Strong Attacker Ready to Start
Manager Comments
During his press conference, the coach was asked about Brazilian starlet Estevao, who has largely been playing in cups and midweek European matches. When prompted, he said that the winger is “ready to start” in Premier League matches.
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Despite that, he urges that they are helping the teenager adapt and hints that by December or January, the attacker will be much more involved and bedded in to the squad and style of European football. This is a relatively smart approach as we have seen a number of young players fail to make the big jump to European football, patience and time will only help Estevao in the long term.
Already Showing Quality
Despite being relatively limited in his minutes so far, the Brazilian has shown his qualities and been an impact player for his new club. Over the past year he has one of the best npXG per 90 of any attacker in world football and is in the top 2% of attackers for npXG+xAG.
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He has grabbed four goals and an assist for the Blues in just 631 minutes, averaging a goal contribution in just over 100 minutes. He has added to that with some impressive displays on international level after nabbing a brace over the October break.
Some may believe the youngster is already prepared to play regular minutes as evidenced by his output. Despite that, the manager believes he is aiding the player’s development. There’s certainly trust as he did praise the Brazilian recently, calling him “special” for various reasons.
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