Long before Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley became sporting directors at Chelsea overseeing one of the most ambitious recruitment drives in football, they could regularly be found in South America keeping tabs on players.
Winstanley was at Brighton and Stewart Monaco, where they worked under comparative constraints, looking for players who might be going under the radar and not already lined up for auction between the game’s wealthiest clubs.
They were, however, operating in a different sphere a few years later when it came to Estevao Willian.
Everyone knew about this compact forward smashing records throughout Brazilian youth football, but it was a case of who was prepared to take a risk, get a deal agreed and a contract signed first.
Nonetheless, Estevao had only been playing for Palmeiras’s first team for around six months before Chelsea signed him and, in a recruitment world now dominated by data, there were few statistics to go on.
Stewart and Winstanley are thought to have flown to Brazil to assess him personally, and then things moved quickly.
They had to act fast: Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were all watching closely.
Chelsea had, The i Paper was told, been close to signing teenager Endrick from Palmeiras six months after the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover, and were bruised by a deal being agreed only for the player to opt for Real Madrid for a fee of £30m, potentially rising by a further £21m.
Estevao’s agent is Andre Cury, a former Nike executive who facilitated several Brazilian players signing for Barcelona before becoming chief scout after being instrumental in Neymar’s move to the Spanish side. His agency represents scores of South American footballers.
This time Chelsea wrapped everything up with him and the club, paying Palmeiras £29m, plus potentially another £12m in performance-related adds-ons, for Estevao.
If everything everyone says about the Brazilian prodigy comes true, they could have an even better player on their hands than the one they missed out on.
Scouts in Brazil say Estevao has a natural close talent and flair that is rarely seen, talking of a player who, to borrow from scouting vocabulary, can find solutions to any challenges thrown at him.
They believe he has a higher ceiling than Vinicius Junior – the forward who signed from Flamengo for Real Madrid and many believe was unfortunate not to win the most recent Ballon d’Or.
Englishman Jon Cotterill has worked as a commentator and scout in Brazil since 2002 and has watched Estevao play.
He witnessed a compelling “agility and change of pace” – not necessarily the quickest in a straight sprint but with that devilish ability to go up a gear when opponents don’t realise there are more to reach.
“People in Brazil say he has the potential to be one of the best players in the world,” says Cotterill, author of the recently published book Brazil In The World Cup, The story of the Selecao on football’s greatest stage.
Certainly, that is a view shared by the great and good of Brazilian football who have queued up to laud him.
Branco, winner of the 1994 World Cup and whose job is to identify the best young Brazilian talent for the national team, told Canal WAMO: “Since Neymar, he is the best Brazilian born player I’ve seen.”
Last season, when Estevao reached 17 goals and assists in the Brazilian top flight aged 17, he broke the record set by Neymar.
Aged 10, he had beaten another record: becoming the youngest Brazilian to sign a contract with Nike, a feat Rodrygo, now a star for Real Madrid, achieved at 11.
You can see why temperatures – and expectations – are rising.
Brazilian legend Ronaldo recently described Estevao as “kind of like Lamine Yamal” – the exceptional 17-year-old at Barcelona.
“He will soon be a very big star in football,” Ronaldo said.
That he is small, and left-footed, and the way he dribbles with the ball and changes direction with such startling speed, drew early comparisons to Lionel Messi, although he has tried to shake the “Messinho” nickname (meaning “Little Messi”) placed around his neck some years ago.
Last May, after he scored the winning goal and shone in a Brazilian Cup game against Botafogo, his manager, Abel Ferreira, admitted: “This player is different from everything I’ve ever seen.”
Ferreira is apparently not one for talking up his young players. In Estevao’s case, he tried to convince the Palmeiras board not to sell but was overruled.
Estevao can play off the wing or as a No 10 but, intriguingly, he was told during the transfer talks that Chelsea see him in a central role, which is his preference.
He will only have turned 18 a few months before he moves to London, but the expectation is that he will be competing immediately for a place in next season’s first-team.
Estevao, who has won four caps already, is targeting a place in Brazil’s squad for the 2026 World Cup.
He scored 13 goals and was third in the Brazilian Serie A top scorer table, voted the league’s breakthrough star and best striker. But they are bold ambitions in a league where many Brazilians have failed to crack.
And there remain notes of caution. Chelsea have been in a similar position before with a teenage Brazilian who broke records in youth football and, after nine years, seven loans, two Carabao Cup starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League, Lucas Piazon left for Portuguese side Braga in 2021.
We are talking different times and different realms of spending, of course – Piazon was signed from Sao Paulo for a deal that reached £10m.
“He was the new Kaka,” Cotterill says.
A Dutch coach called Piet de Visser used to work closely with Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea owner, and was convinced Piazon was the next superstar to emerge from the country.
“But it never worked out,” Cotterill adds.
“One key difference is Estevao is a considerably more skilful player. You have to watch out but I think this is a different level with Estevao.
“He’s still only 17. Is he going to push on? Chances are he could do but you never know with players at this stage.
“But all things are there for him to be one of the world’s best.”
There is, also, the issue with how he will take to the Premier League. It is known as a league of giants, these days, but Estevao is 5ft 7in tall and weighs around 62kg.
“He’s lightweight,” Cotterill adds. “People talk about the robustness of the Premier League, but he’s got skills and flair.”
Equally, one of Estevao’s former team-mates already hasn’t worked out. West Ham signed Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras for around £20m last summer and are open to selling the 18-year-old.
But there’s a string of examples of smaller players thriving: David Silva, Phil Foden, Sergio Aguero. (Maybe Estevao should have joined Manchester City after all…)
And anyone questioning his resilience need only look at the season he won the Under-17 Brazilian Championship. In one of the games, Estevao broke his toe in the first half but insisted he wanted to continue. He had a pain relief injection and played the second half.
Whatever the outcome of the move, Estevao represents a slightly new direction for Chelsea, and a belief from the owners that South America’s young talent can succeed in English football. The changes to recruitment rules, a consequence of Brexit, made it harder to sign young European players but easier to sign ones from further afield, and it has shifted focus.
In summer 2023, they agreed a £17.2m with Independiente del Valle for 17-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder Kendry Paez, who will move to Chelsea in July. In August, they signed a deal with Gremio to sign 16-year-old attacking midfielder Gabriel Mec for up to £20.5m, who will start a five-year contract in 2026, when he is 18. And in August they signed 19-year-old Argentinian defender Aaron Anselmino from Boca Juniors for £15m.
Estevao is the jewel in that South American crown. Sometimes heavy is the head that wears it.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/yEeSRA2
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