Chelsea have been warned that Estevao Willian could follow the footprints of Jadon Sancho and fizzle out soon just like the England international, who has been struggling for form for the last few years after a bright start to his career. Following a loan move from Manchester United, Sancho showed sporadic flashes of brilliance at Stamford Bridge last season, scoring five goals and providing 10 assists in 41 appearances, and had a permanent clause in his contract worth up to £25 million ($33m) that Chelsea could have exercised. But disagreements over personal terms scuppered the deal, and the Blues paid a £5m penalty fee to terminate the arrangement.
Hype warning for 'Messinho'
Estevao, affectionately nicknamed 'Messinho' in Brazil, has emerged as the toast of Stamford Bridge. Since his £29m ($38m) summer move from Palmeiras, he has ticked all the right boxes, and his first goal, which was a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Liverpool, instantly made him a favourite among fans. He has also impressed in Europe, coming up with a calm and composed penalty against Ajax in the Champions League and a strike in a tense 2-2 draw away to Qarabag. Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s head coach, has trusted him with big moments, and his role has grown from an impact substitute to one of the key players in the attacking setup.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesBarnes not yet impressed by Estevao
Former England winger John Barnes has delivered a stark warning to those already labelling Estevao as the next big thing, insisting that the youngster risks following the same path as Sancho, who burned bright early before fading just as fast.
Speaking to Barnes said: "Estevao is a young player who has come into the team and is doing well at the moment. However, I remember Jadon Sancho doing the same thing and based off that I tend to leave opinions on young players alone and wait for them to grow. We can’t start putting pressure on him yet.
"In reality, he’s had 10 good games… he’s done nothing! He’s got lots of potential, but we’ve seen that at Chelsea before and there’s lots of examples where it hasn’t worked out. He’s not going to be a starter every week because they have so many players and all of a sudden, if he has a few below-par performances, we could be writing him off after another 10 games. He has good potential, lots of ability and he can be a very good player, but at this moment in time he has done nothing and achieved nothing."
Maresca's measured faith in winger
Maresca, however, couldn’t disagree more. The Italian manager, who has overseen Estevao’s integration since the summer, believes Chelsea have landed one of the most gifted prospects in world football.
"You can see his talent," Maresca said after Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Wolves, where Estevao once again caught the eye. "We are trying to help him to adapt and give him the right minutes. "He arrived from Brazil, he needs time to adapt, but he's going to start games for us in the future. He arrived from a club where he was not training 100 percent so his physical condition was not good. Slowly, now he is better. He knows that to play with us he needs to be good on the ball and off the ball otherwise, he's not going to play. We are very happy with him."
Maresca went even further, comparing Estevao’s development trajectory to that of Chelsea star Cole Palmer. "For me, it’s very, very similar to Cole," he said. "I had Cole at the same age as Estevao at [Manchester] City Under-23 and they are very similar. Cole started playing wide because he needed a bit [more] physicality; now he’s playing inside. And Estevao, they are quite similar, now he’s playing wide but in the future I think he’s more of an inside player.
"I feel very lucky to be his manager because it's exciting, you can enjoy. We said many times, I think the fans at the end, they paid the tickets to see players like Cole, like Estevao, this kind of player. So it's nice that we can have players like Estevao, like Cole, like them."
Getty Images/GoalThe road ahead for Estevao
Estevao has been called up to Brazil’s senior squad for friendlies against Senegal and Tunisia. When he returns to London, the schedule gets no easier. Chelsea face Burnley on November 22, before back-to-back clashes against Barcelona in the Champions League and Arsenal in the Premier League.