Estevao Willian’s and Eden Hazard’s final full seasons at Palmeiras and Lille were very similar

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Estevao Willian has not been at Chelsea for long, but supporters are already starting to show him the kind of love they used to display towards Eden Hazard.

After Joao Pedro’s goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, Chelsea fans sang Estevao’s name despite the winger not even being the man who had scored.

They have quickly taken a liking to him, largely because of his exciting and positive wing play.

It is quite similar to Hazard’s when he was a player. In fact, there are some striking similarities between Estevao’s final full season at Palmeiras and Hazard’s at Lille.

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Estevao Willian and Chelsea legend Eden Hazard had similar dribbling numbers

In the 2024 Brazilian league season, where Estevao played the full campaign, the 18-year-old completed 2.7 dribbles per game, according to WhoScored.

That was a slightly higher average than Hazard’s during the 2011/12 Ligue 1 season, with the Belgian making 2.3 dribbles per game.

It is a very positive sign for Chelsea, given that Hazard went on to become one of the greatest dribblers the Premier League has ever seen.

As Estevao continues to adapt to English football and get stronger, he could become as effective as Hazard was one-v-one.

It is still early in his career, but Estevao is already a £100m player, according to his manager Enzo Maresca.

Estevao Willian and Eden Hazard both reached double figures for goal contributions

Estevao and Hazard also recorded a lot of goal contributions during their final full seasons at Palmeiras and Lille.

Both reached double figures, though Hazard’s output was much higher than the Brazil international’s.

At Chelsea, Hazard was just as effective, and the hope at Stamford Bridge will now be for Estevao to become a productive attacker just like the Belgium legend.

The fact that Estevao is already scoring and creating goals for the Club World Cup winners suggests that he can. If Chelsea can get his development right, they are going to have a superstar on their hands.