Estêvão Willian
![]() Willian with Palmeiras in 2024 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves | ||
Date of birth | (2007-04-24) 24 April 2007 (age 17) | ||
Place of birth | Franca, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Palmeiras | ||
Number | 41 | ||
Youth career | |||
2017–2021 | Cruzeiro | ||
2021–2024 | Palmeiras | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2023– | Palmeiras | 21 | (5) |
International career‡ | |||
2023– | Brazil U17 | 5 | (3) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 July 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2023 |
Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves (born 24 April 2007), simply known as Estêvão Willian, Estêvão, or by his nickname Messinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras. He will join Premier League club Chelsea on 1 July 2025.
Early life
Estêvão was born in Franca, Brazil, and began his youth career with the academy of Cruzeiro in 2017.[2] The following year 2018 at the age of 10, Willian signed a professional contract with Nike, making him their youngest Brazilian player to sign with the company, surpassing Real Madrid footballer Rodrygo.[3]
Club career
Estêvão moved to the youth academy of Palmeiras on 6 May 2021, signing a trainee contract.[4] In the 2022 season, he helped the Palmeiras youth teams win the Campeonato Paulista Sub-17 [pt], Campeonato Paulista Sub-15 [pt], Copa do Brasil Sub-17 and Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17.[5] In October 2023, Estêvão scored a hat-trick in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17 final which ended in a 3–0 victory against São Paulo, to help his club to achieve their second consecutive title in the competition.[6]
On 7 December 2023, Estêvão made his professional debut for Palmeiras, coming off the bench in the 78th minute of a 1–1 draw away at Cruzeiro which sealed the Série A title win for Verdão.[7] At 16 years and 8 months, he became the club's fourth youngest player ever.[8]
Estêvão came back to the Palmeiras U-20 team for the Copinha 2024, and became a notable player of the competition and a primary player for the team in the competition. On 24 April 2024, he scored his first goal for Palmeiras in a 3–1 win over Liverpool during the 2024 Copa Libertadores group stage, becoming the third player under 17 to achieve this feat following Ângelo Gabriel and Endrick.[9]
Chelsea
On 22 June 2024, it was announced that Estêvão would join Premier League club Chelsea in the summer of 2025, upon his eighteenth birthday.[10][11][12] The deal reportedly commanded a €34 million fee, plus €23 million in performances-based incentives.[12]
International career
Estêvão was first called up to represent the Brazil U17s in October 2022 for a set of friendlies in October 2022.[13]
Style of play
Estêvão has been compared to Lionel Messi and Neymar.[14] He originally used the nickname Messinho as an homage to Messi, due to similarities in their respective playing styles.[15] He has also been praised for his maturity, his reading of the game and his decision making, which were all considered to be precocious.[16]
Career statistics
- As of 17 July 2024[17]
Club | Season | League | Paulista | Copa do Brasil | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Palmeiras | 2023 | Série A | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
2024 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5[a] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 7 | ||
Career total | 18 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 7 |
- ^ Appearances in Copa Libertadores
Honours
Palmeiras
References
- ^ "Estêvão". Playmaker. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Joia da base do Cruzeiro, Estevão Willian deixa o clube e tem nome registrado no Palmeiras". ge.
- ^ "Joia da base do Palmeiras, Estevão Willian renova contrato com empresa de material esportivo". Lance!.
- ^ "Estevão Willian, o Messinho, deixa Cruzeiro e assina com o Palmeiras - Superesportes". Superesportes. 6 May 2021.
- ^ "PSG sinaliza investida de mais de R$ 400 milhões por Endrick e Estêvão; Palmeiras quer mais". ge.globo.com (in Portuguese). 21 November 2022.
- ^ "¡Exhibición de 'Messinho': 'hat-trick' y título para el Palmeiras!" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 22 October 2023.
- ^ "Palmeiras conquista segundo título brasileiro consecutivo e amplia hegemonia com 12 no total" [Palmeiras wins second consecutive Brazilian title and expands hegemony with 12 in total] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Estêvão entra no ranking dos mais jovens a fazerem estreia profissional pelo Palmeiras; veja top 10" [Estêvão enters the ranking of the youngest to make professional debut for Palmeiras; see the top 10]. ESPN (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "IFFHS continental news: Copa Libertadores". IFFHS. 12 April 2024.
- ^ "Estevao Willian to join Chelsea". www.chelseafc.com. Chelsea F.C. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Chelsea seal Estevao Willian deal and open Aaron Anselmino talks". BBC Sport. 22 June 2024.
- ^ a b Johnson, Simon; Burrows, Ben (22 June 2024). "Chelsea confirm deal to sign Estevao from Palmeiras". The Athletic. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Palmeiras tem três jogadores convocados para a Seleção Brasileira". 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Chelsea: Estevao Willian has been compared to Neymar and Lionel Messi". BBC Sport. 23 June 2024.
- ^ ""My dream is to be like Messi and play for Barcelona"". www.besoccer.com.
- ^ Davis, Krishan (16 February 2024). "Estevao Willian: The 'out-of-this-world' wonderkid trying to shake the nickname 'Messinho' - chased by Europe's elite but dreaming of Barcelona". Goal.com.
- ^ Estêvão Willian at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Palmeiras iguala feito do Palestra Itália e chega ao tricampeonato estadual" [Palmeiras matches the achievement of Palestra Itália and reaches the state championship three-peat] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Federação Paulista de Futebol. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
External links
- Estevão Willian at playmakerstats.com (English version of ogol.com.br)
- Palmeiras profile
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- 2 Marcos Rocha
- 4 Giay
- 5 Moreno
- 6 Vanderlan
- 7 Dudu
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- 10 Rony
- 11 B. Rodrigues
- 12 Mayke
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- 22 Piquerez
- 23 R. Veiga
- 25 G. Menino
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- 27 Ríos
- 34 Naves
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- 41 Estêvão
- 42 López
- Michel
- Head coach: Abel Ferreira