Like all clubs of their size and with their history, Chelsea have had some incredible players represent them over the years.
Moreover, those players have often formed brilliant duos, such as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba and John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
Another pairing that enjoyed immense success during their time at Stamford Bridge was Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, who played 107 matches together, averaged two points per game and won two Premier League titles.
So, fans should be excited that the club might be able to recreate a partnership similar to that one with the sensational Estêvãoand one of Cobham’s most promising gems.
Estêvão's start to his Chelsea career
There has long been plenty of hype around Estêvão and the kind of player he could develop into.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
In fact, just a few months before Chelsea signed him, respected analyst Ben Mattinson labelled the teenage phenom a “future Ballon d’Or winner.”
Of course, there is still a long way to go before that could happen, but so far this season, it would probably be fair to say that the young Brazilian has met, or even exceeded, expectations.
For example, in 17 appearances, totalling just 740 minutes, he has already scored five goals and provided one assist.
That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.83 games, or more importantly, every 123.33 minutes.
Furthermore, the Franca-born superstar in the making has also already shown an ability to thrive and score in the club’s biggest games.
For example, he came on against Liverpool a couple of months ago and scored the winner and then, against Barcelona this week, he scored the all-important second goal to take the game away from the Spanish side.
Finally, on top of the output, the former Palmeiras prospect also passes the eye-test with flying colours, as Hazard did; he’s a tremendously fun footballer to watch, and it feels like something is going to happen with a ball at his feet.
Now, as if one young superstar in the making wasn’t enough, Chelsea also have a goalscoring machine in the academy who could become Estêvão’s Costa.
The Cobham gem who could be Estêvão's Costa
As always seems to be the case, Chelsea have plenty of seriously exciting youngsters coming through the academy at the moment, with chief among them, and the player who could form a game-breaking partnership with Estevao, being Shumaira Mheuka.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion prospect joined the Blues’ youth setup in 2022 and, in the time since, has become one of the most promising strikers in academy football.
Now, that might sound hyperbolic, but his output over the last couple of years proves that it very much is not.
For example, despite being just 16 at the start of last season, he ended the campaign with 11 goals and three assists in 30 appearances across the u18s and u21s.
Yet, while that is an impressive return, he’s taken another massive step forward this year.
So far, the Birmingham-born monster has scored 13 goals and provided three assists in 13 appearances for the junior sides, totalling 1,067 minutes.
Appearances
63
Goals
34
Assists
9
Goal Involvements per Match
0.68
That means the prolific number nine is averaging 1.23 goal involvements every game, or one every 66.68 minutes, which is surely a rate of return that warrants him getting more first-team action this season.
It’s not just at club level where the youngster is making a name, though: in 20 appearances for England’s u19s, he has chalked up a huge tally of 14 goals and three assists.
With numbers like these, it’s not hard to see why respected talent scout Jacek Kulig has described the youngster as “the future of Chelsea and English football.”
Ultimately, while it might not happen this year, Chelsea need to play Estevao alongside Mheuka at some point, as they could end up being the club’s new Hazard and Costa.
Chelsea join Arsenal in transfer battle to sign "leader" dubbed the new Saliba
The Blues could get their own version of the Arsenal star.
ByTom Cunningham