Carlo Ancelotti heaped praise on Estevao after the Chelsea star scored his fourth goal for Brazil in their 2-0 win over Senegal, claiming “Brazil have a guaranteed future” thanks to the teenager.
Estevao – who’s got four goals and one assist in 657 minutes for Chelsea in his debut season at Stamford Bridge – opened the scoring for Selecao with a neat left-footed finish before Manchester United midfielder Casemiro secured victory.
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An injury to Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes put a dampener on the win, but Estevao once again proved his extraordinary talent and responded to Ancelotti stressing in training that his forwards need to press more.
GE Globo stated: ‘The scolding given by Ancelotti in training charging greater presence marking pressure worked. Estêvão played a very important role in making it difficult for Senegal to leave the ball and was one of the great highlights of the first half.
It’s impressive how not to fail to risk plays, even when you make mistakes. A lot of personality rewarded with the fourth goal in the Ancelotti era. He is the gunner of this cutout of the cycle.’
After the game, Ancelotti hailed the 18-year-old’s display and the maturity he shows for someone so young.
“Estevao has incredible amount of talent,” Ancelotti said.
“It’s a surprise this level at his age. He’s good at finishing, has a lot of magic … and he works very hard.
“I can say this: with Estevao, Brazil have a guaranteed future.”
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Estevao has started just seven games for Chelsea this season as Enzo Maresca frequently rotates his team, but Ancelotti isn’t concerned by his limited game time.
Ancelotti said: “I saw him play at Chelsea, the thing is he doesn’t need a lot of minutes to show his quality, he can play 5 minutes and you can see his quality, Brazil is lucky to have him and also Chelsea”
Maresca is well aware of Estevao’s talent and said after their 3-0 win over Wolves that he could feel the impact he had when brought on as a substitute.
Maresca said: “I can understand in the first half people were not happy because we didn’t score. Then, when Estevao came on the energy raised because people love that kind of player.
“You can see his talent. We are trying to help him adapt and give him the right minutes. He arrived from Brazil; he needs time to adapt, but he’s going to start games for us in the future.”
According to the CIES Football Observatory, which estimates transfer values through a statistical model, the teenager is now valued at £104 million and Maresca believes that fee is justified.
“You can see that, absolutely,” the Blues boss added. “He is top. For this club in the next five, 10 years, he will be a top, top, top player.”