It will still take a year until Chelsea take Estêvão to England, as the Palmeiras youngster is only turning 18 in April 2025.
Now while he continues to play in Brazil, he keeps showing all his skills, and it was no different in the derby against Corinthians on Monday.
As Palmeiras won the match 2-0, Estêvão indulged in some showboating which resulted in players getting angry and a teammate ending up with a red card. Quoted by Globo Esporte, the future Chelsea player claims he didn’t expect that.
“It’s a match atmosphere, it wasn’t provocative, it’s my football,” he siad.
“Something normal that I always do, nothing provocative. It ended up with a hot head at the time, but we didn’t feel the pressure.
Estêvão was also quizzed about the upcoming move to Chelsea. He said he’s looking forward to that, even though he must have his mind set on Palmeiras for the coming year.
“To tell you the truth, I got very happy inside,” he added.
“I think it’s an achievement that everyone dreams of, to play in Europe, with the biggest teams in the world. Today my head is at Palmeiras. What I did at Palmeiras was important for them to sign me.
“I think that all the work that Palmeiras does in all youth levels, both at youth and professional level, is sensational for all of us kids, we’re very happy and the expectation is very good. But my head is focused on Palmeiras.”
Chelsea are expected to pay an initial amount of €34m to sign Estêvão, but the performance bonuses may take the deal up to €61m.
The youngster is surely one of the most hyped players that have emerged in Brazil in a while, so Blues fans have a reason to get excited about the signing. And all Palmeirenses have an extra year to enjoy watching him in the meantime.
