Estevao has been enjoying a good start to his Chelsea career. But it can get even better for him and the club.
The 18-year-old has probably exceeded everyone’s expectations following his move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues have been known to sign a lot of youngsters and then loan them out. But Estevao has been playing quite a bit in his first few months.
Everything Enzo Maresca has said about him leads us to believe he really enjoys coaching the Brazilian wonderkid. And he also seems to understand the player he has at his disposal.
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How Maresca can lead Estevao to success at Chelsea
The Cole Palmer route
The Italian had already coached Cole Palmer at Manchester City. He spent one year as the U-23s manager and won the Premier League 2 for the Citizens’ Elite Development Squad.
Now in 2025, the pair are once again working together – this time at Chelsea. Palmer excelled in 2023-24 under Mauricio Pochettino, but has somewhat maintained his form in the last two seasons — performing a different role.
Palmer came through the Man City ranks mainly as a winger/wide attacking midfielder. Now, he plays in a more central area – and even when is deployed out wide, operates more in the half-space rather than hugging the touchline as he did as a youngster for the Citizens.
Estevao’s future (and past)
Maresca has recently indicated that the same could happen to Estevao. “Now he’s playing wide but in the future I think he’s more of an inside player”, he said.
Funny thing is that he may be talking about the Brazilian’s future, but it also holds true about his past.
Estevao became a star for Palmeiras as a right winger between 2024 and 2025. He would sometimes cut inside, but would mainly stay out wide – with support from inverted right-back (sometimes right-centre-back) Marcos Rocha and attacking-midfielder Raphael Veiga.
However, before making his professional debut, he was tearing it up as a 15-year-old playing in the U-17s as a No.10.
His most famous moment for the academy came in the U-17 Brasileirao final. He played down the middle and scored all three of their goals in a 3-0 win over rivals Sao Paulo – including two right-footed strikes, one of them from outside the box.
Palmeiras academy coordenator Joao Paulo Sampaio mentioned Estevao as one of the ‘victims’ of a strong Brazilian culture to take skillful players and place them out wide in case they lose possession when taking defenders on.
There is less damage when that happens on the wings than in the central corridor. But growing up they need to touch the ball as often as possible – and that’s what he wanted to prioritize with Estevao.
He then joined the first team and became a winger, but his footballing journey started as a No.10.
Making the most of his time out wide
Despite Maresca indicating that Estevao will eventually follow in Cole Palmer’s footsteps, it may not happen for a while.
In the meantime, the 18-year-old has been making the most out of his minutes as a winger. The Chelsea wonderkid has the highest Squawka Score of any winger/wide midfielder in the Premier League this season (75%).
He is still thin so maybe Maresca feels he needs to put on some muscle before starting to play more centrally.
But the Italian has also been allowing Estevao to have central touches with some regularity, even when starting on the wings.
The recent matches indicate a lot of this — but both presenting very favourable contexts: cup tie against one of the worst teams in the Premier League (Wolverhampton Wanderers) and 10-man Ajax at home in the Champions League.
Eventually when Estevao ‘graduates’ from the wing, he could form a deadly partnership with Cole Palmer as the No.10 with tendencies to drift into the right side. Both could switch positions regularly to confuse opponents and have endless source of creativity — through shots, passes or take-ons.
This is what Chelsea fans and Maresca will be hoping for – and it could rule the Premier League for years to come if both achieve their potential.