Chelsea appear to have hit a home run with the capture of Estêvão, although it wasn’t guaranteed that the Blues would actually end up winning the battle for his signature with Paris Saint-Germain previously interested.
Estêvão signed with Chelsea in the summer 2024, a £51 million ($67.5 million) deal that locked in a future transfer from Palmeiras once he turned 18. It bore similarities to Real Madrid’s recruitment of Vinicius Junior and Endrick, and underlined a significant strand of the Premier League club’s recruitment strategy trained on identifying unpolished potential in South America.
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Other young talents plucked directly from Brazil hadn’t previously justified the hype—think Deivid Washington, Ângelo Gabriel. But Estêvão, for not yet being a regular starter domestically, has managed six goals and assists so far, including three goals in his last three Champions League games.
For Brazil, the 18-year-old has found the net five times in six senior appearance this season and looks as though he could be a breakout star at next summer’s World Cup.
But everything had the potential to be very different for him, as Fabrizio Romano has explained.
While Barcelona were heavily linked at various points and have a close relationship with the player’s representative, Andre Cury, any realistic opportunity to make that move was only a “long time ago”. Instead, the competition for Chelsea came from PSG, holding “advanced conversations” but pulling due to feeling the demands from Palmeiras were too expensive.
Chelsea were conversely happy to commit to that money, split into £29 million guaranteed and the rest of the fee made up of performance-related add-ons. The simple fact is that if those extras get triggered, it means that Estêvão is doing well and ultimately justifying the price tag.
Estêvão takes a penalty for Brazil vs. Tunisia.
Estêvão already looks set for a major role at the World Cup. / Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Everything that has happened over the last few months points to Estêvão, not just going to the World Cup with Brazil, but being one his country’s most important players in search of a first title since 2002. A year ago, Endrick was tipped for that status, but Estêvão’s former Palmeiras teammate has been left needing a January transfer just to command some club time on the pitch.
Estêvão is being labelled Brazil’s best emerging talent since Neymar burst onto the scene in 2010. Crucially, however, things are already lined up for him to be more of a long-term success than the Selecão’s all-time leading goalscorer, whose career has been on a downward slope since 2017.
“He’s regarded as the best, brightest, most talented player to come out of Brazil since Neymar, with one or two advantages. He seems more stable than Neymar and so far has less baggage around him. The sky is the limit,” South American football expert Tim Vickery told Sky Sports.
“Comparisons with the top drawer ... they put burden of pressure on him but he seems to respond exceptionally well to pressure. You could see right from his first game you’re dealing with a very, very special talent. A talent which, since Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil coach, is of crucial importance to the national team. His first start was Ancelotti’s first game and he’s banged in five goals between September and November. He’s a crucial part of Brazil’s quest to win the World Cup next year.”
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