Chelsea have spent almost £250m on summer signings and Owen Hargreaves believes Estevao Willian may very well be probably the most exciting of the lot.
The Premier League club agreed to sign Brazil winger Estevao from Palmeiras in May but agreed the move wouldn’t happen until the summer.
Estevao scored 27 goals in 83 appearances for boyhood club Palmeiras, quickly establishing himself as probably the most highly-rated players in Brazil.
Despite only turning 18 earlier within the 12 months, Estevao has already earned five caps for Brazil and received praise from national team boss Carlo Ancelotti, formerly of Real Madrid.
Estevao featured within the Club World Cup for Palmeiras before finally moving to Chelsea and playing under Enzo Maresca in pre-season.
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It took the teenager just 18 minutes to attain in his first appearance at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea beat Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Friday night.
Chelsea have high hopes for Estevao , who was signed by Nike on the age of 10, and Hargreaves believes he’ll ‘blow people away’ next season.
Asked who he views as Chelsea’s most enjoyable summer signing, the previous England midfielder told TNT Sports: ‘Estevao… this kid is like Cole Palmer along with his type of play.
‘I believe people are going to be blown away by him. Obviously he’s very young but talent-wise, he’s going to get people off their seats.
‘Him and Palmer along with Joao Pedro as well… I mean, if Chelsea just add a goalkeeper they’ll be within the top-four, of course.’
Estevao Willian, expert evaluation
‘Estevao is one of the best player to have emerged from Brazilian football since Neymar,’ the top of Palmeiras’ academy, Joao Paulo Sampaio, told BBC Sport. ‘You watch him and also you fall in love.
‘He already impresses along with his technique but, like Neymar at this same point in his profession, he has not yet matured physically and shouldn’t be as strong as Endrick, so he could still develop loads.
‘That’s what amazes everyone and makes them think that he’ll reach a much higher level.
“Once we won the 2022 U-17 Brazilian Championship title, Estevao ended up breaking certainly one of his toes during a decisive game.
‘Besides he still didn’t want to go away [the game], so he got here to me at half-time saying, “I’ll return for the second half”. And I challenged him: “You higher return.”
‘And so he had a painkilling injection in his toe and told me, “I’ll return, rating a goal and search for you within the stands to shush you.” That’s how strong he’s mentally.
‘I’d say that with Estevao it’s not a matter of whether this place is less complicated or not because he’s the type of player that just goes there and gets things done.
‘When you’re an extra-class like him, that’s the way you do it.’
Real Madrid hero Ancelotti gave Estevao his first start for Brazil in June and later described him as a ‘special talent’.
‘He’s got a special talent,’ the Brazil boss said. ‘He’s got character, he’s a very good person, he’s humble.
‘He seems high-quality to me, but with a young player we have now to be patient and careful. He has the characteristics to be very vital for the longer term of the national team.’
Former Chelsea winger Willian, meanwhile, said of the Premier League’s recent wonderkid: ‘He has great potential like [Barcelona winger] Lamine Yamal, they’ve an analogous style.
‘I hope he will be very successful in England playing for Chelsea, that he can rating loads of goals within the Chelsea jersey and can help them to win titles.’
Chelsea recovered from a blip midway through last season to finish the campaign with Champions League football secured and a Conference League trophy within the bag.
Maresca’s side continued their encouraging form over the summer, beating the likes of PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to win the Club World Cup.
Chelsea begin their 2025-26 Premier League campaign on Sunday against London rivals Crystal Palace.
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