Why Chelsea believe young star Estêvão is destined for greatness

This past week has offered Chelsea's Estêvão a glimpse into the often-unforgiving journey to the top of the game.

Last Tuesday, the 18-year-old Brazil forward dazzled with a brilliant goal the apotheosis of a sparkling collective performance as Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on a night they announced their UEFA Champions League credentials. Five days later, he was substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal having touched the ball just 17 times and wasted two good shooting opportunities.

Welcome to the unrelenting world of elite sport. The inconsistency of youth is part of the reason why Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and his staff have taken a cautious approach with Estêvão, who is widely considered one of the most gifted wingers to emerge from South America in years, but is also still at the start of his career at the highest level.

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He has long been destined for greatness in the minds of many expert observers. Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti confirmed on Monday that Estêvão was highly likely to be part of his 2026 World Cup squad, despite that Arsenal game being only his ninth start for Chelsea since joining from Palmeiras for an initial £29 million in the summer.

Here is how Chelsea have managed his first few months in England, and why the best is surely yet to come.

Estêvão had made an impression on his new teammates even before his first day at Chelsea's Cobham training base. His final game for Palmeiras came at the FIFA Club World Cup in Philadelphia against the Blues on July 5. Chelsea won 2-1, but their task was made harder by Estêvão's second-half equalizer, as he collected the ball in the box and surged past Levi Colwill before firing a shot in off the crossbar from an extremely tight angle.

Cole Palmer, who made a point of finding Estêvão after the final whistle at Lincoln Financial Field, said afterwards: "I just said 'we look forward to seeing you' but he didn't understand a word I said. When he comes to England, people need to give him time. He needs to adapt to the culture and the language. He's still only 18 but he's got amazing quality."

That was essentially the conundrum Maresca and Chelsea faced upon Estêvão's arrival: give a hugely promising talent game-time now, or prioritise his long-term development with a slower introduction.

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Enzo Maresca: Cole Palmer and Estêvão are excited to play together

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer and Estêvão are excited to play together.

They had already been waiting a while. Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Estêvão in the summer of 2024 -- worth an initial £29 million but rising to a potential £56 million if various add-ons are triggered -- but FIFA regulations dictate he could not move abroad until after his 18th birthday. In the interim, Estêvão amassed 83 appearances for Palmeiras and broke into Brazil's senior team, making five appearances in all.

The language barrier that Palmer mentioned was an obvious place to start. Sources told ESPN that Estêvão was quickly put on a program of three English lessons a week where the first-team schedule would allow. He was also given an individually tailored gym schedule designed to help him adapt to the physicality of English football. Sources have also confirmed that Chelsea designed training drills to further aid that adaptation, with players encouraged to bump into each other while running to improve their balance.

Estêvão's family moved with him to Surrey, where the Cobham training ground is based, and the club also sought to make him comfortable in the first-team dressing room, assigning him a space between two other Brazilians, João Pedro and Andrey Santos.

Sources say Maresca was keen not to overexpose Estêvão in the opening weeks of the season, but just three wins from their opening eight games across all competitions increased scrutiny on the team and suggested a possible hangover from winning the Club World Cup.

Estêvão made his first Premier League start in Chelsea's second game of the season, a 5-1 romp at West Ham United in which he provided a fine assist for Enzo Fernández. He may have been sacrificed after just six minutes at Manchester United as goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was sent off early in September's 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, but his cameo appearances were becoming difficult to ignore.

Things went to another level in the 2-1 win against Liverpool on Oct. 4. His 95th-minute winner was a simple finish but it triggered pandemonium at Stamford Bridge, so much so that Maresca was shown a red card for his sprint along the touchline to celebrate with his players. A maiden Champions League goal on his first start -- from the penalty spot in a 5-1 win over Ajax -- made him Chelsea's youngest-ever scorer in the competition, a feat he backed up when netting against Qarabag at the beginning of November.

The statistics hint at the changes he is being asked to make in his game. Maresca's tactical style thrives with wingers succeeding in one-vs.-one situations -- incidentally, perhaps a reason why Chelsea have spent so heavily on this area of the squad -- and Estêvão's numbers are promising in this regard: in 23 appearances with Palmeiras, his take-on success was 33.1%. With Chelsea across 18 appearances, it is 40.3%.

Barcelona certainly found him difficult to stop. Cynics will point to their high defensive line and the fact Barça played just over half the game with 10 men following Ronald Araújo's 44th-minute red card, but Estêvão lit up the occasion, scoring a brilliant second goal as the home side powered to a 3-0 win.

The battlelines had been drawn with Estêvão on one side and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal on the other. There is no contest based on what each has already achieved in the game -- Yamal is a European Championship winner with Spain, two-time LaLiga champion and a Ballon d'Or runner-up, all while being three months younger than Estêvão. Yet in that 90 minutes, there was no contest. Chelsea left back Marc Cucurella did a fine job nullifying the threat of his Spain teammate, while Estêvão was a constant menace at the other end.

Sources have told ESPN that Estêvão's performance created waves in Barcelona's dressing room. Several players, including Brazil international Raphinha, discussed his impact on the game, with coach Hansi Flick in agreement that Estêvão had caused them problems they were unable to solve.

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Raphinha: Lamine Yamal and Estêvão will be world class players soon

Barcelona forward Raphinha believes Lamine Yamal and Estêvão will both become world class players in the future.

It can be difficult to stop the hype train once it has left the station, and Estêvão has inevitably faced comparisons with Brazil legend Neymar from a very young age. Maresca was quick to step in when one reporter suggested Estêvão's goal against Barcelona bore the hallmarks of Lionel Messi.

"Estêvão needs to relax," Maresca said. "He needs to enjoy, he needs [training] sessions. He needs to play football. Him, Lamine, they are so young, 18, that if you start to talk about Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, I think it is too much pressure for young boys like them. They need to enjoy, arrive at the training ground, happy, session. When you start to compare with Messi or Ronaldo, I think it is too much for them."

There was probably nothing he could say to prevent the clamour for his inclusion against Arsenal five days later. Brazil legend Ronaldinho took to social media to tell Estêvão that Sunday's game would be his "time to shine," adding: "Be happy, play with joy and everything will be fine."

It didn't work out that way. Arsenal, one of the best defensive teams in Europe, restricted his effectiveness and Moisés Caicedo's first-half red card put Chelsea on the back foot.

This is an inconsistency that can come with youth; injuries in Chelsea's attacking department have also reduced the chances to build an understanding with those around him.

Sources say Chelsea believe they have a potential generational talent in Estêvão, a name which means "crown" in Portuguese. Many in west London believe, after these first few months, that he is destined to wear one.

Information from ESPN Brasil's Bruno Andrade was used in this report