Palmeiras manager Abel Ferreira has ‘begged’ the club not to sell youngster Estêvão as Chelsea seemingly push ahead to try and get him ahead of the competition.
ESPN Brazil cover comments from Ferreira today in which he’s made his stance on a possible exit for the youngster as clear as he could.
Estêvão is considered one of the future stars of Brazilian football after rising through the ranks at Palmeiras, where he is already a regular in the first team despite only turning 17 last month.
His performances have, as is often the case with Brazilian youngsters, attracted the attention of clubs in Europe, namely Chelsea.
They’ve been credited with an interest in him since December last year and there have been numerous reports about them preparing to make a move for him ever since.
That’s obviously not gone unnoticed at the Brazilian club, where Ferreira is wary of losing his rising star and has even ‘begged’ for him to be left alone.
“Talk about the kid Estêvão,” he said.
“I’m going to ask Leila not to sell. Don’t sell this player! His father, businessman and he will be sad, but let Estêvão stay with us until 2027.
“I really think he’s different from everything I’ve ever seen. He’s a boy who defends, attacks, talk about that. I ask you to talk about the positive things, which are many.
“He can be a reference for the future for us. All teams need this type of player because they do different things. I’m not the one who teaches him how to dribble or shoot, he already has that.
“My job is to teach him how to position himself and defend. He knows he has the affection of everyone, from the management, from Leila, from Barros, he has a very well-structured family, his teammates play with him, despite being very young, you know that when he wears this shirt and this symbol, we have to treat everyone equally.”
Chelsea may end up breaking Abel’s heart.
