Estevao Willian introduced himself to the Chelsea fanbase with his first minutes in a pre-season game.
On Friday evening, Chelsea hosted German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in a friendly match at Stamford Bridge. They were pretty impressive during the 2-0 victory, too.
Estevao Willian, 18, made his unofficial Blues debut in the Leverkusen victory, scoring in the 18th minute to highlight the sort of goal threat he’s bringing with him.
Even though the Brazilian attacker is still so young, he has plenty of first-team experience under his belt from his Palmeiras days. Based on his first outing for Enzo Maresca’s side, he looks ready to make an immediate impact in the forward line going into the 2025/26 campaign.
Jamie Gittens claims Estevao has impressed in training during the first week of pre-season, so we’re sure there’s plenty more to come from him.
Estevao Willian playing for Chelsea against Bayer Leverkusen in a pre-season friendly.
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
We were certainly impressed by what we saw from Estevao on his Blues debut, and the German media seemed to agree as well.
After Chelsea’s pre-season win against Leverkusen, German publication Kicker singled out Estevao, Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella. They wrote: “The hosts repeatedly found Marc Cucurella and the extremely playful Cole Palmer between the lines. [Alejandro] Grimaldo and his team were also never able to get a grip on winger Estevao.”
Player Position Minutes played Accurate passes Total shots Chances created Ground duels won Match rating
Estevao Willian Right wing 77 25/30 (83%) 7 3 3/8 (38%) 8.3
Cole Palmer Attacking midfield 45 28/31 (90%) 2 2 1/1 (100%) 7.3
Marc Cucurella Left-back 45 22/23 (96%) 1 3 3/4 (75%) 7.3
Match statistics from Chelsea vs Bayer Leverkusen via FOTMOB
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Pat Nevin was blown away by Estevao during his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt, claiming one free-kick was reminiscent of what Blues legend Cesc Fabregas used to do.
The hype around the teenager has been immense since this summer’s transfer was confirmed over a year ago. If anything, that will go to a new level because of how comfortable he looked in his new home.
It will be intriguing to see if the South American wonderkid can deliver once the competitive matches get underway next weekend, but the very early signs are that he won’t shy away from the limelight.
Estevao Willian celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Bayer Leverkusen in the pre-season match at Stamford Bridge.
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Will Jason Cundy get his prediction wrong?
Back in May, Jason Cundy predicted Estevao may take time at Chelsea to actually break into the starting line-up. Cundy said: “It’s the Premier League. It is a different league. It’s demanding in other ways that other leagues aren’t. He (Estevao) might take a bit of time to get that starting berth.”
In fairness, most people would agree that it’s a huge step from the Brazilian top flight to the Premier League, especially for someone so young.
However, Estevao, who’s got five senior caps for Brazil, is unlike most youngsters in the world of football.
When Chelsea take on Crystal Palace at home in the Premier League opener, it wouldn’t shock us anymore to see Estevao in the starting XI.