Although Estevao Willian is the main competition for Pedro Neto at Chelsea, the Portugal international has only good things to say about his young teammate.
While all the focus is on Chelsea’s managerial change, the players are quietly working away in the background, preparing for a huge away tie against Man City.
Enzo Maresca won’t be returning to face his old club.
Pep said this just last month…
What do you make of Chelsea's chances on Sunday without Maresca on the sideline?
Ahead of the weekend’s action, Neto discussed the mood in the Chelsea dressing room during this turbulent period, before turning his attention to the newest young superstar to emerge at Stamford Bridge.
Pedro Neto impressed by Estevao’s maturity
It says a lot about Estevao’s mentality that he has been able to transition from Brazil to the Premier League so seamlessly.
The 18-year-old has looked like a veteran with the ball at his feet, not showing the inexperience that his young age suggests.
And that could be down to his mature approach to learning the game, which Neto described in detail to Sky Sports.
He said: “When he came, we saw he was special. But the thing about him that I used to say, maybe the youngsters and I was a little bit in that generation. Sometimes the youngsters, they don’t like at times to hear some stuff.
“But what I like about him is that every time he’s open to hear stuff to learn, and he’s always happy and that’s a thing that I like a lot is that you can see that he’s a kid that just wants to play football.”
Estevao came to West London with a reputation as the brightest talent coming out of South America, but that hasn’t given him a big head.
There are plenty of top players at Chelsea from whom the youngster can learn, and Neto tells us he is completely open to hearing anything that can elevate his game.
What the big names were saying about Estevao after Barcelona masterclass…
Estevao Willian’s minutes could see a huge jump
There has been mixed reception to how Maresca used Estevao this season.
On one hand, his quick adaptation to the Premier League may have been aided by the gradual way in which the Italian broke him in.
On the other hand, some Chelsea fans were frustrated to see Estevao rested so much, especially in games where individual moments of brilliance were needed.
Chelsea’s next manager — whether that’s Liam Rosenior or someone else — could change the approach with Estevao and give him a much larger role in the side. That would be one quick way of getting the fans on side.
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