Estêvão Willian

Brazilian footballer (born 2007)

Estêvão Willian
Personal information
Willian with Palmeiras in 2024
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	18	(3)
International career^‡
2023–	Brazil U17	5	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 June 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 or Estêvão, 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 26 June 2024^[17]

Club	Season	League			Paulista		Copa do Brasil		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Palmeiras	2023	Série A	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
Palmeiras	2024	Série A	12	3	5	0	2	1	5^[a]	1	0	0	24	5
Career total			13	3	5	0	2	1	5	1	0	0	25	5

^ 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.