The past few years has seen a trend grow of European club signing South American youngsters and having to leave them there until they turn 18-years-of-age.
This is the case again with Chelsea, who are now about to close the transfer of Estêvão from Palmeiras for €45m plus €20m in bonuses, while he can only physically complete the transfer in the summer of 2025.
1994 World Cup champion Zinho this week spoke to ESPN Brasil about the situation. In quotes brought by Lance, he claims everything is happening too fast in the life of these players, as the Chelsea target may not even be prepared for such a big move.
“I think it’s a bit absurd, because the guy’s not even out of nappies yet. He hasn’t even played yet. How things have changed. Estêvão isn’t a first-team regular at Palmeiras. He’s had opportunities, he’s played well, but he’s not even the best player in the team. He’s a good player, a boy in training, being honed, just like Endrick, who is at a higher level, now in the Brazilian national team, but it’s very fast how things are happening.
Estêvão is obviously far from being the first player to be involved in this kind of operation. Endrick, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and Vitor Roque were all sold to European clubs before they turned 18.
Some of those bets seem to have been worth it, and Chelsea surely wanted to anticipate the Spanish competition by making such a bold move to guarantee Estêvão’s signing.
