Forward · #41
Estêvão
Brazil · 5'10" · 19
His role
The FutureEstêvão is the right-sided attacker behind the striker. He starts wide enough to isolate a defender, then dribbles inside onto his left foot to combine around the box or shoot. He can also replace Palmer as the more central creator.
His story
- 01Did you know
Nike signed him when he was ten
Nike signed Estêvão when he was ten, making him the youngest athlete the company had ever put under contract at the time. He was still at Cruzeiro, where coaches had already started calling him Messinho—little Messi. Most children that age are collecting shirts; he already had a sponsorship and a comparison with Lionel Messi.
- 02Record
Brazil's player of the year as a teenager
Estêvão helped Palmeiras win the Brazilian title in 2024 and swept the individual honours with the Bola de Ouro, best newcomer award and a place in the league's team of the year. He was still a teenager. Chelsea had already agreed to buy him and simply had to wait until his eighteenth birthday before bringing him to England.
- 03Drama
He beat Liverpool in stoppage time
In his first season in England, at eighteen, Estêvão scored a stoppage-time winner against defending champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. It was the quickest possible way to turn promise into a moment Chelsea supporters would remember. By 2026, he had been named London's Young Player of the Year.
Career
Palmeiras2022–2025
Chelsea2025–
