Swept aside on Tuesday evening by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Barca could have secured the services of a player from the Blues' squad who played a very bad trick on them.
Weighed down by Ronald Araujo's error, FC Barcelona suffered a heavy defeat on Tuesday evening against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (0-3), on the occasion of the fifth matchday of the Champions League league phase. Reduced to ten men at the end of the first half after the Uruguayan centre-back's sending-off, the Catalan club suffered their second defeat in five matches on London soil and did not help their case for direct qualification to the last 16.
Scoring the Blues' second goal at the start of the second half with a moment of real class, Estevao scored his third consecutive Champions League goal against Barca after those against Ajax Amsterdam (5-1) and Qarabag (2-2) for a tally of five goals in 17 matches in all competitions. Having arrived at Chelsea during the last summer transfer window for €45m (£38.5m), the young Brazilian winger made the choice to join the Premier League giants but his future could have taken a different path... at Camp Nou. This is the revelation made by the former Palmeiras prodigy's agent.
Estevao under contract until 2033 at Chelsea
© Imago / IMAGO / Action Plus
Questioned by Cadena SER, Andre Cury explained having approached FC Barcelona to offer his protege's services to the Catalan directors. Whilst discussions were held with sporting director Deco, Barca were forced to decline due to a financial situation too precarious to position themselves on the case. And this despite the fact that Estevao adores the Blaugrana. "Today, Estevao has five years left on his contract, he is enjoying himself at Chelsea, but he has a particular affection for Barca."
Andre Cury continues: "The technical secretariat officials always approved signing Estevao and we were in contact with Deco, but the economic situation did not allow him to make a signing for the future." Perhaps in the coming years, FC Barcelona will succeed in securing Estevao's services but in the meantime, he is delighting Chelsea with whom his contract runs until June 2033.
This article was originally published on Top Mercato.