Estevao Willian could play his final game as a Palmeiras player against new club Chelsea in the Club World Cup tonight.
Last year, the Blues saw off interest from almost every elite club in Europe to secure the services of a player regarded as Brazil’s most promising talent since Neymar.
Chelsea paid an £29million which could eventually rise £57million – but it could all be worth every penny.
Having turned 18 in April, Estevao is now permitted to make his move to London this summer. Before that, he has been part of the Palmeiras side competing in the revamped Club World Cup – a competition also featuring his new club.
Palmerias qualified from Group A as group winners to set up an all-Brazilian last 16 showdown on Saturday evening against Botafogo, seeing off their domestic rivals to reach the last eight.
Get personalised updates on Chelsea every day
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Chelsea are their opponents tonight in their huge quarter-final match after beating Benfica last weekend.
Can Estevao Willian play against Chelsea at Club World Cup?
Chelsea and Palmeiras will meet at the quarter-final stage of the Club World Cup in the early hours of Saturday morning.
With Estevao registered for the Palmeiras squad, there is nothing to stop him from lining up against the players he will be playing alongside side as early as next month.
Having started every match so far over in the US, he will surely keep his place in the team tonight.
Ahead of the game, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said: ‘When we prepare for games, we prepare thinking about the team, not the players that are on the other side, and we have done exactly the same in this game.
‘We prepare for the game against Palmeiras, not against Estevao. In this moment he is a Palmeiras player.
‘We don’t care if in the future he will be with us when this competition is finished. The only thing we are focused on is doing our best to try to beat Palmeiras.’
Will Estevao Willian play for Chelsea next season?
New signings Liam Delap, Mamadou Sarr and Dario Essugo are in the Chelsea squad for the Club World Cup and will be joined by Estevao later in the summer when pre-season gets started.
Chelsea routinely send their young stars out on loan, with Estevao’s countryman Andrey Santos enjoying a superb campaign with Strasbourg last season. But the Brazil international is expected to be part of Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad heading into the 2025-26 campaign.
Club World Cup Round-by-round prize money breakdown
On top of a participation fee, clubs will receive prize money as follows:
- Group Stages: £1.5m for a win and £800,000 for a draw
- Round of 16: £5.8m
- Quarter-Final: £10.1m
- Semi-Final: £16.2m
- Runners-up: £23.2m
- Winner: £30.0m
Chelsea must not put pressure on Estevao Willian
Estevao will be joined by another prodigious South American talent at Chelsea in Ecuador’s Kendy Paez – although there are suggestions he may be shipped out to Strasbourg shortly after he touches down in London.
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel sees huge potential in both players who must be aware of the club’s need to win trophies ‘from the word go’.
‘The important thing is to give them time, we shouldn’t put pressure on them,’ Mikel told Metro.
‘Let them come into the club, bed them into the system and the way Maresca wants to play. There is always pressure at Chelsea, we win trophies. So they have to know that from the word go. But they are young players so you have to find a way to manage it.
‘They will come good. If we can find a way to get the best out of them. If it happens straight away, fantastic, we are all happy. What I have seen from both of them, they are so exciting.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.