Following the conclusion of Palmeiras’ FIFA Club World Cup campaign, Estevao Willian has completed his long-awaited move to Chelsea.

The 18-year-old signed off in style, scoring a brilliant solo goal against his soon-to-be new employers. 

Estevao joins Chelsea for an initial £30m and has penned an eight-year contract, agreed back in June 2024. 

A popular selection in the Club World Cup Fantasy game, how will he impact FPL in the upcoming season? We take a look in this Scout Report. 

The Quotes

“You can see he is a fantastic player… We are going to help him to adapt and, first of all, to enjoy football. We don’t have any doubt, as he is so good, that he is going to be an important player for Chelsea.” – Enzo Maresca

“A more exact comparison is Rodrygo of Real Madrid. Estevao is a left-footed version of him. Slightly built, very fluid. It’s like he’s on water when he’s carrying the ball — full of changes of pace and rhythm.” – Tim Vickery (Brazilian Football Expert)

The History + Stats

*Serie A, Copa do Brasil, Copa Libertadores, Club World Cup

Having made his senior debut at the age of just 16 in the final match of the 2023 domestic season, Estevao rose to prominence in the following campaign.

Despite his youth, the teenager has plenty of experience playing on the biggest stage of South American and international football, featuring and scoring in both the Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup. 

Overall for Palmeiras, Estevao returned 22 goals and 14 assists in 64 matches – that’s an attacking return every 123 minutes. 

He made his senior Brazil debut in September 2024 and has featured a further four times for the national team. 

The Underlying Numbers

Above: Estevao’s heatmap Serie A 2025, via Sofascore

In the 2024 season, Estevao’s first full campaign in senior football, the winger outperformed both his xG and xA data significantly. 

So far in 2025, including the FIFA Club World Cup, he has maintained his xG overperformance – netting five times from 4.5 expected goals. He has four assists from an xA of exactly that.

According to his FBRef ‘Scouting Report’ (above), Estevao compares very favourably to other attacking midfielders in terms of goal threat, expected data and dribbling abilities. 

He may need to work on the defensive side of his game to fit into Enzo Maresca’s structured system. 

It’s also worth noting that three of Estevao’s 22 senior goals came from the penalty spot. 

While it’s unlikely he will be given penalty duties at Chelsea, it’s a credit to his mentality that he was given the responsibility for spot-kicks at the age of just 17. 

Where does Estevao fit in at Chelsea?

In the short term, it’s less of a question of how Estevao fits in at Chelsea and more of a question of how he will adapt to life in England. 

The obvious caveats apply here: a very young player moving country, moving league, embracing the English weather etc!

Encouragingly, it looks like he has good people surrounding him. According to Simon Johnson, speaking on the latest Straight Outta Cobham podcast from the Athletic, Estevao is being joined in England by his parents and sister. He will also be based in leafy Surrey, not in the bright lights of London.

“He is a kid who is 18 years old, so Chelsea need to take care of him. They need to embrace him because in the beginning, for sure, he will make mistakes.” – Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras Head Coach)

On the pitch, Estevao will likely compete with Pedro Neto for the right-wing position in Chelsea’s starting XI. Like the Portuguese international, he is left-footed and suits Maresca’s desire for wingers who like to cut inside. 

His path to regular minutes looks set to be a bit clearer in the near future, with Noni Madueke strongly linked to Arsenal and Christopher Nkunku continuing to attract interest.

With Neto impressing in the Club World Cup, expect Estevao to play back-up initially. 

There have been suggestions that the Brazilian could play centrally, an idea admittedly touted by his agent. However, it’s tricky to see him displacing Cole Palmer or Enzo Fernandez anytime soon. 

Is Estevao worth buying in FPL?

At the beginning of the season, probably not. Saying that, who would have thought £5.0m Cole Palmer would become essential in our teams a couple of seasons ago!

Estevao could feasibly come into the game as a midfielder at that price but more likely it’ll be £5.5m+ after his Club World Cup exploits. 

With Chelsea sitting top of the fixture ticker over the first 14 Gameweeks, interest in their assets will be high through the first few months of the 2025/26 campaign. 

In the event that Estevao emerges as the key man, it will be easy to downgrade from his more expensive teammates. 

In conclusion, one to put on the back burner initially – but if the hype is anywhere close to being proven correct, Estevao is a name that will be lighting up FPL for the next decade and more.