Former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet likes what he sees from Estevao Willian so far, and outlines what he must do to get to Lamine Yamal’s level.
Estevao’s Chelsea career has gotten off to a flying start. The Brazilian has made the most of limited minutes in his first few weeks in England.
He came up with a beautiful assist for Enzo Fernandez on his first Premier League start against West Ham, and was the hero on Saturday scoring the winner against Liverpool.
The future is bright for the 18-year-old, and he has been tasked with something that would elevate him to world-class conversations.
Gus Poyet’s challenge for Estevao
Following Estevao’s heroics, Gus Poyet — who spent four seasons at Stamford Bridge — waxed lyrical about the Chelsea winger and advised him on one area to work on in his bid for superstardom.
He says (via GOAL): “He has potential. He has got everything. I think he can be incredible and top, top, top class.
“Now he needs to do it all the time. Now we are talking about Lamine Yamal and when you are looking at him, it’s every game – every game doing something, even with the national team. When somebody does it at that level all the time, or most of the time, then you are there.”
Lofty ambitions for Estevao from the former Brighton and Sunderland boss. At 18, Yamal is already one of the best in the world, and Poyet thinks Chelsea’s new star can get there as well.
Consistency is the final piece of the puzzle.
Estevao’s national team prospects
Yamal’s rise was punctuated by his Euro 2024 campaign. The then-16-year-old lit up the tournament for Spain and made himself a household name as they went all the way in the competition.
Estevao will need to do the same to even be considered in the same conversation as the Barcelona star.
That could happen at the World Cup next summer, though breaking into the Brazil XI will be no easy task.
In the wide areas, Estevao is in competition with some of the world’s best. Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are all world-class attackers, and even Matheus Cunha, Savinho and Gabriel Martinelli could be ahead of the Chelsea man.
But Estevao is a special talent, and one that Brazil will want to cultivate with an eye to the future.
If he can get consistent minutes with both the national team and at Chelsea, he’s showing all the signs of becoming a world-beater. It might be too soon for the Yamal comparisons, though. Let’s circle back after the summer’s action.
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