Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves (born 24 April 2007), known as Estêvão Willian or just Estêvão, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

and the Brazil national team. He will join

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea in July 2025, following the conclusion of Palmeiras' campaign at the

2025 FIFA Club World Cup The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, also marketed as FIFA Club World Cup 25) is the 21st edition and the first of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized ...

. Known for his dribbling, creativity, finishing and crossing ability, he is considered as one of the most promising young players in the world.

Early life

Born in

Franca Franca is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northeastern portion of the state, distant 401 km (249 mi) from the state capital São Paulo, and 676 km (420 mi) from Brasilia. It covers a total area of 60 ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Estêvão began his youth career with the academy of Cruzeiro in 2017. The following year 2018 at the age of 10, Willian signed a professional contract with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

, making him their youngest Brazilian player to sign with the company, surpassing

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

footballer

Rodrygo Rodrygo Silva de Goes (; born 9 January 2001), better known as Rodrygo, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), right winger or Forward (association football), forward for La Lig ...

Club career

Palmeiras

Estêvão moved to the youth academy of

on 6 May 2021, signing a trainee contract. In the 2022 season, he helped the Palmeiras youth teams win the Campeonato Paulista Sub-17 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Sub-17, Campeonato Paulista Sub-15 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Sub-15, Copa do Brasil Sub-17 and Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17. In October 2023, Estêvão scored a hat-trick in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17 final which ended in a 3–0 victory against

, to help his club to achieve their second consecutive title in the competition. 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''. At 16 years and 8 months, he became the club's fourth youngest player ever. 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 Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

during the 2024 Copa Libertadores group stage, becoming the third player under 17 to achieve this feat following Ângelo Gabriel and Endrick.

Chelsea

On 22 June 2024,

club Chelsea announced that Estêvão would join the club in the summer of 2025, upon his eighteenth birthday. The deal reportedly commanded a €34 million fee, plus €23 million in performances-based incentives.

International career

Estêvão was first called up to represent the Brazil U17s in October 2022 for a set of friendlies in October 2022. Estêvão was selected for the Brazil national team for the first time on 23 August 2024, to participate in the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and the

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. He debuted on 6 September 2024 against Ecuador at the

Estádio Couto Pereira Estádio Major Antônio Couto Pereira, often shortened to Couto Pereira, is the home of Coritiba Foot Ball Club, located in Curitiba, Paraná (state), Paraná state, Brazil. Its formal name honors Major Antônio Couto Pereira, who was Coritiba's ...

. He substituted Luiz Henrique in the 61st minute as Brazil won 1–0.

Style of play

Estêvão has been compared to

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

and

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

. He originally used the nickname ''Messinho'' as a homage to Messi, due to similarities in their respective playing styles. He has also been praised for his maturity, his reading of the game and his decision making, which were all considered to be precocious.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Palmeiras *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Newcomer: 2024 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2024 *

Bola de Ouro The ''Bola de Ouro'' (Golden Ball) is an annual award given each year, since 1973, by Brazilian sports magazine '' Placar'' to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro. A group of sports journalists watch every match of the competition and ra ...

: 2024 * Troféu Mesa Redonda Best Player: 2024

References

External links

Palmeiras profile
{{Navboxes , title=Awards , bg=gold , fg=navy , list1= {{Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Newcomer {{2024 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year {{Bola de Ouro {{2024 Bola de Prata {{Troféu Mesa Redonda Living people 2007 births Footballers from Franca Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players SE Palmeiras players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's international footballers 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen