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Estêvão Willian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is de Oliveira and the second or paternal family name is Gonçalves.
Estêvão Willian
Estêvão warming up 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 33 (12)
International career‡
2023– Brazil U17 5 (3)
2024– Brazil 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:13, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:01, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves (born 24 April 2007), known as Estêvão Willian or just Estêvão, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras and the Brazil national team. He will join Premier League club Chelsea on 1 July 2025. He is widely regarded as one of the most promising young players in the world.

Early life

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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

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Palmeiras

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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

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On 22 June 2024, Premier League club Chelsea announced that Estêvão would join the club 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

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Estêvão was first called up to represent the Brazil U17s in October 2022 for a set of friendlies in October 2022.[13] 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 against Ecuador and the Paraguay.[14] He debuted on 6 September 2024 against Ecuador at the Estádio Couto Pereira. He substituted Luiz Henrique in the 61st minute as Brazil won 1–0.[15]

Style of play

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Estêvão has been compared to Lionel Messi and Neymar.[16] He originally used the nickname Messinho as a homage to Messi, due to similarities in their respective playing styles.[17] He has also been praised for his maturity, his reading of the game and his decision making, which were all considered to be precocious.[18]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 10 November 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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 27 12 5 0 2 1 7[a] 1 0 0 41 14
Career total 28 12 5 0 2 1 7 1 0 0 42 14
  1. ^ Appearances in Copa Libertadores

International

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As of match played 19 November 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Brazil 2024 4 0
Total 4 0

Honours

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Palmeiras

References

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  1. ^ "Estêvão". Playmaker. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Joia da base do Cruzeiro, Estevão Willian deixa o clube e tem nome registrado no Palmeiras". ge. 6 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Joia da base do Palmeiras, Estevão Willian renova contrato com empresa de material esportivo". Lance!. 9 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Estevão Willian, o Messinho, deixa Cruzeiro e assina com o Palmeiras - Superesportes". Superesportes. 6 May 2021.
  5. ^ "PSG sinaliza investida de mais de R$ 400 milhões por Endrick e Estêvão; Palmeiras quer mais". ge.globo.com (in Portuguese). 21 November 2022.
  6. ^ "¡Exhibición de 'Messinho': 'hat-trick' y título para el Palmeiras!" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 22 October 2023.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "IFFHS continental news: Copa Libertadores". IFFHS. 12 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Estevao Willian to join Chelsea". Chelsea F.C. 22 June 2024. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Chelsea seal Estevao Willian deal and open Aaron Anselmino talks". BBC Sport. 22 June 2024.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Palmeiras tem três jogadores convocados para a Seleção Brasileira". 19 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Convocados da Seleção: veja lista de Dorival Júnior para jogos contra Equador e Paraguai" [Seleção squad: see Dorival Júnior's list for games against Ecuador and Paraguay] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge.globo.com. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Brazil v Ecuador game report". ESPN. 6 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Chelsea: Estevao Willian has been compared to Neymar and Lionel Messi". BBC Sport. 23 June 2024.
  17. ^ ""My dream is to be like Messi and play for Barcelona"". www.besoccer.com.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ a b Estêvão Willian at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  20. ^ "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.
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