Chelsea are always on the prowl for the best young prospects in world football, and they have not deviated from this approach, though they will likely be a whole lot more selective with how much they spend on an individual player following the 100 million euro “flops” of Enzo Fernandez and Mykhaylo Mudryk.
The Blues are zeroing in on Estevao Willian as their top transfer target of choice and the next young prospect in world football they want to bring into the project.
Chelsea have been pushing after Willian, nicknamed “Messinho”, harder than competitors like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, even though Real Madrid usually sign the elite prospects – including Estevao’s Palmeiras teammate Endrick.
Now, according to The Athletic, Chelsea have agreed with Palmeiras on a 65 million euro transfer fee for Messinho, with 34 million euros paid up-front and additional money in bonuses set to come to the Brazilian club.
That actually makes Estevao, who is one year older and a bit less hyped, a slightly more expensive signing than Endrick to Real Madrid, but, for the most part, Real Madrid will be able to get elite prospects cheaper.
Estevao is a 17-yearold, left-footed right winger and someone with the quality to immediately get minutes for Chelsea, even as a teenager in the Premier League.
He is another mouth for the Chelsea coach to feed in terms of attacking minutes, so Estevao’s transfer, if confirmed officially, would affect a number of players.
However, nobody would be more impacted than the current left-footed right winger, Noni Madueke. He was a 35 million euro signing from PSV last winter and one of the players Todd Boehly wanted as a key part of the project.
Although Madueke has been inconsistent, he is a quality footballer who has looked like a starting-caliber player in some matches this season. The 22-year-old has scored 5 goals with 2 assists in 12 starts and 10 further appearances off the bench.
But he isn’t a nailed-on starter and hasn’t accelerated in his development. Messinho will immediately put the heat on Madueke to step up or step aside, and if he is as ready as Endrick has looked internationally, Chelsea could give him every opportunity to start.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.