Chelsea have signed £34m wonderkid who is blitzing records and has Cole Palmer's approval

Chelsea have spent hundreds of millions recruiting the biggest talents of tomorrow from around the world since Todd Boehly’s takeover, with Cole Palmer the pick of the bunch. And there is understandable excitement that Estevao Willian might just be their next superstar.

The Blues agreed to pay a huge £34million fee up front and £56m overall to snap up the 17-year-old sensation from Palmeiras. With every game that he plays, that fee appears to be money well spent.

Estevao has been likened to Lionel Messi – his nickname is ‘Messinho’ – and his idol Neymar for his quick dribbling and mazy runs. But what the youngster also has in common with the South American duo is his ability to influence games so early in his career.

On Friday night, he became the first Under-18 player in Brazilian Serie A history to register 20 goals and assists in a season after scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Gremio.

Estevao now has 12 goals and eight assists during the 2024-25 campaign, giving him a leading role in a title-contending team when many others at his age are simply learning their trade.

Brazil’s most talented stars tend to look out for their own and it’s part of the reason why Neymar didn’t join Chelsea back in 2010 after receiving advice from Pele to stay at Santos.

Now 32, Neymar has been full of praise for Estevao and congratulated him on breaking his record as the youngest player to reach 18 goals and assists a few weeks back.

“Congratulations @estevaowillian for the broken record. May you continue to shine and enchant everyone with your soccer. Fly,” Neymar posted on his Instagram stories.

And it’s not only people in Brazil who are taking note of his performances. Cole Palmer was alerted to the fact the Sao Paulo-born starlet had marked his big-money move to Stamford Bridge by copying his iconic ‘cold’ celebration after scoring the very next day.

“When I signed for Chelsea, the next day, I scored a goal and celebrated like Palmer,” Estevao told The Guardian in October.

“His celebration was a trend, very popular. We talked on social media, I tagged him on Instagram, he called me a star, I said he’s a star too. He said we’re going to do a lot of great things together for Chelsea.”

It seems that game does recognise game after all. Few predicted Palmer to experience such a meteoric rise when he signed from Manchester City in August 2023, scoring 22 goals in his debut season. But Estevao is delivering the match-winning performances Brazilian football experts had mapped out for him – albeit a few years ahead of schedule.

Chelsea negotiated a deal ahead of the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich to land a player many South American footballers and experts consider to be a generational talent.

“I decided for Chelsea because of their planning,” Estevao added. “I was very pleased with that. Not just for me but also for my family. It was the club that believed in me and trusted in my work. I hope I can pay that back.”

He won’t arrive at Stamford Bridge until July 2025 when he celebrates his 18th birthday, but the club will be rolling out the red carpet for their rising star when he visits London later this year.

The hard work truly begins for the teenager when he moves to England next year. But the early signs suggest the hype surrounding Brazil’s biggest talent to emerge since Vinicius Junior or even Neymar is increasingly justified.