Estêvão to Chelsea: Scout Report & Analysis | Coaches’ Voice

Young Brazilian promises have been a constant in football since Pelé became known to the world at just 17 years old in the 1958 World Cup. The latest talent to emerge from the South American country is Estêvão, 18 years old, who offered a sample of his quality in the 2025 Club World Cup by scoring for Palmeiras against Chelsea, the eventual champion of the tournament. What made his performance even more striking was that he achieved it precisely against the club he was about to join.

Estêvão made his debut for Palmeiras at the age of 16 in 2023 and earned his first cap for Brazil in 2024, after which Chelsea agreed to sign the coveted attacker for the summer of 2025. He scored his first goal for the Blues in the final minutes of the match against Liverpool in the Premier League, before becoming the youngest Chelsea player to score in the Champions League, aged 18 years and 181 days. A month later, his goal in a 3-0 victory over Barcelona made him the third player under 20 to score in each of his first three starts in Europe’s top club competition, after Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches analyze their technical qualities and role on the field.

Technical analysis

Estêvão is a left-footed attacker who primarily acts as a right winger. He stands out for his dribbling ability and his natural instinct to drive the ball and confront his defender directly one on one, both in small spaces and when he has more meters in front of him. He is capable of driving the ball at high speed even when taking many short touches. The young Brazilian also shows a timing excellent on the walls, offloading the ball and, almost at the same time, starting towards free space. Thus he performs two actions in the same movement, which allows him to receive again and advance.

In his ball control, Estêvão usually uses the sole of his foot in preparation for a dribble. This can draw your opponent forward as you prepare to pluck. Time your momentum when your opponent is still moving, not completely stopped, and accelerate from there with an explosive change of pace.

He has had some difficulties when facing especially physical opponents, strong in the duel and who use their body well to block any attempt to overwhelm from the outside. His response to this is to turn inward, feint and immediately start with the next touch. This generates a kind of zigzag movement while dribbling (below), which is very useful for progressing in areas with high defensive density. This fake opens up options to finish, center or filter deep passes into the rival area.

His frequent dribbles mean that he naturally seeks to finish with shots to the farthest corner, looking for the far post with an inward spin. As explained before, Estêvão spices up his actions with feints, feints and small movements of the ball—especially from right to left—to create shooting opportunities. He always does it very well timing. Furthermore, he has shown composure in these shots at the far post, even when moving at high speed (below).

He has a powerful shot, especially when he receives the ball in central areas and between the lines. Some of his shots from long distance stand out for their strength, trajectory with fall and thread. Even when he has the ball high above him – whether due to the short touches typical of his driving or because the interior space is congested – he is capable of generating considerable shooting power.

Sometimes he seeks to attack the space behind the rival defense, normally on the outside side of the rival full-back, when a pass is filtered towards the left-back. From there he can shape his body to finish diagonally, although he is also capable of using his right leg to finish powerfully at the near post. Little by little he is incorporating more unmarkings that cross the path of his defender – in the style of Bukayo Saka in Arsenal – to receive on the run, although he will need to lavish himself more on this type of runs to add greater variety to his game in the final third of the field.

The Brazilian international has shown a willingness to attack the far post, scoring goals thanks to unmarking behind his back or crossing in front of the winger who is marking him, especially when attacking low and tense crosses. He is increasingly reaching these shooting areas with more regularity to take advantage of rejections, deflections or stops from the goalkeeper, adding to his statistics those types of key goals in the scoring tallies of any winger.

When not directly influencing the goal, Estêvão also contributes to the construction of attacks, frequently going deep into the area. His filtered passes behind the rival defense are useful for combining with teammates who attack spaces, and he usually executes them after shaping himself with inward fakes (below). In the immediate vicinity of the area he has shown intelligence in associating with his teammates, especially when he hides his actions. Although he could be a little livelier with his passing once inside the box, he will hopefully improve in this regard with age.

His low and tense centers cross the rival small area with power and generate all kinds of problems for defenses, while in other actions he uses intelligent feints to execute backward passes. That variety is allowing him to attack better from the outside when playing on the right wing. With more work, he should become a winger capable of attacking effectively on both sides, something essential in modern football.

Far right

At Palmeiras, Estêvão mainly acted as a right winger within a 4-2-3-1 structure, although on some occasions he also played as a winger or winger in systems with a back three.

During the 2024 Brasileirao season he was the player who recorded the most combined goals and assists in the entire competition (22). He was especially aided by the varied and fluid movements of the team’s opposite side. By setting the width on the right, the changes in orientation towards his wing allowed him to receive in wider spaces, with the rival previously swinging to the left.

From there, he was often isolated to attack one-on-one situations, with right-back Marcos Rocha choosing well when to join in to provide support and when to let him face his marker alone (below). As a result, in 2024 Estêvão recorded the highest number of dribbles of any player in a single Série A season since 2021. In doing so, he demonstrated his ability to outpace his opponent, cut inside, finish diagonally, and penetrate the box. In addition, he was the third player with the most shots in Série A in 2024.

In Palmeiras’ 4-2-3-1, the double pivot often swung to his side, offering Estêvão an inside passing line to combine inside, even through walls. With the playmaker—Maurício or Raphael Veiga—often participating in combinations on the left side, interior spaces were also generated that Estêvão took advantage of to drive aggressively inside. The playmaker made supportive unchecks inside that Estêvão knew how to identify with filtered and vertical passes. Furthermore, Estêvão himself ran diagonally, crossing or attacking areas close to the center forward, José Manuel López, to associate himself. He also made curved unmarkings, either diagonally or towards José Manuel López, to combine. In fact, Estêvão is tied for third in key passes in Série A in 2024.

With Palmeiras’ left-side players moving to make inroads in and around the area, Estêvão had options to launch crosses in, as well as powerful deliveries to teammates in the center or at the far post. He could also execute passes behind, with the double pivot, forwards behind him or the left back advancing and lurking on the edge of the area.

Upon his arrival at Chelsea he continued to attack mainly from the right within a 4-2-3-1 formation. But the London team has often mutated into a back three under Enzo Maresca, with one of the defenders becoming part of a midfield four. In this adapted formation, Estêvão has maintained width on the right, but without the support of the full-back he had at Palmeiras. However, he has had options to get inside, combining backwards with the closest player of the double pivot, forwards with the closest of the two playmakers, or with a center forward who moves up front when there are rotations in the line of attack.

At Chelsea, Estêvão has had more opportunities to move the ball towards teammates trying to reach the area. He has also been able to make earlier wall combinations, especially if the opposing full-back has jumped to the pressure. Even so, he has continued to have many opportunities to face and attack diagonally towards goal. And with a center forward, two midfielders and a winger on the opposite side ready to attack the area when he progresses, he has had options to provide assists with his crosses, which can be deliveries with effect towards the near or far post, especially for the midfielder on the opposite side and the far winger.

But given that Maresca’s offensive unit is a little more structured than Palmeiras’, Chelsea now have closer support when dribbling in, meaning attacking on their right side could be an increasingly fruitful crossing option.

“He is an enormous talent,” said Maresca after Chelsea faced Estêvão in the Club World Cup. “He is going to be an important player for this club.”

And, without a doubt, it is.

You can learn about more players and their game in The Coaches’ Voice Analysis/Players. We also invite you to learn the academic offer of MBP Coaches’ School.