Before Arsenal’s defenders are looking over their shoulders for Estevao Willian tomorrow, hanging over the 18-year-old Brazilian’s when he arrives at Stamford Bridge is bound to be his baby-blue Air Jordan duffle bag, yours for £123.
Inside will be your usual footballing bric-a-brac. Toiletries, sock tape, those iddy-biddy shin pads that today’s players seem to prefer. Gloves, snood, the case for his Apple headphones. Plasters, strapping for the wrist, perhaps a pack of chewing gum.
Also among that mishmash of items is likely to be something much more sentimental: his chunky copy of the Bible. He is still having English lessons – three a week when the schedule allows with a private tutor at Chelsea’s training ground – so this particular copy of the Good Book is in Portuguese.
He can sit down at his assigned changing-room station – in between two other Brazilians in Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos, both of whom sources say are like ‘older brothers’ to their younger colleague, and with Chelsea’s kit team having already kindly arranged his two pairs of Nike boots and a shirt for each half – and flick through its pages for inspiration if he wishes.
There is one passage in particular which he holds dear: 1 Samuel 2:8-9. That is Hannah’s Prayer, interpreted as God teaching his followers how to remain humble when ‘he raises up the poor from the dust’ and allows them to ‘sit with princes and inherit a seat of honour’.
Estevao Willian – and we will explain why we are repeatedly full-naming him momentarily – never wishes to forget where he came from. ‘The ash heap,’ as it also says in Hannah’s Prayer.
Estevao Willian is Chelsea’s 18-year-old gift from God, a superstar in the making
The Chelsea faithful have taken Estevao Willian to their hearts immediately
It is nice to think the congregation at his local church may be blissfully unaware that the polite teenager playing drums for the choir band is actually, potentially, a future Ballon d’Or winner
Even if he is now one of the Premier League’s hottest properties. Even if he upstaged Barcelona’s own wonderkid Lamine Yamal in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Even if Ronaldinho sent him a few words of wisdom this week after Nike, who have sponsored Estevao Willian since the age of 10, mailed him their new white and gold ‘R10 Tiempo’ boots inspired by the Brazilian legend which he is set to debut against Arsenal on Sunday.
It is nice to think some of the congregation at his local church may be blissfully unaware that the polite teenager playing drums for the choir band is actually, potentially, a future Ballon d’Or winner.
But then we are told this devoted Christian would not want his fellow worshipers to make the mistake of thinking he is superior to them. Sure, he has scored on his last seven starts for Chelsea and Brazil, but at Mass, he is merely another son of God, and he realises how blessed he is.
When Estevao Willian leaves the tunnel for tomorrow’s warm-up, you will see him stop once on the grass, lift his arms, and thank the Almighty. Kids in the East Stand will be screaming his name – and he is generous with his time when asked for a signature or selfie before and after games – but that is his moment between him and his maker.
Now, the name. Estevao Willian has requested we full-name him every time, because as is custom in Brazil, they are his two Christian names (his birth name is Estevao Willian Almeida de Oliveira Goncalves). The way it was explained to us, to purely call him ‘Estevao’ makes as much sense as referring to Pope John Paul as ‘John’.
Chelsea’s supporters have their own nickname for him, though, and that is ‘Steve-o’. It originated at the start of the season when the Premier League had every player tell us on camera how to pronounce their names properly. It’s caught on in the changing room, too, apparently. We are told Estevao Willian does not mind it. It makes him smile.
There was a reason why ‘Estevao’ was chosen when he was born, however.
Estevao Willian with his family – mother Etienne, sister Esther and father Ivo
Ronaldinho sent him a few words of wisdom this week after Nike, who have sponsored Estevao Willian since the age of 10, mailed him their new white and gold ‘R10 Tiempo’ boots
Estevao Willian’s father, Ivo, was a pastor at his local church in Franca, a city in Sao Paulo state. The story goes that a girl once walked in and prophesised that he would someday have a son.
Ivo was single at the time and so, naturally, was surprised. ‘Your son will help you build your church,’ she said, supposedly referencing the passage from 2 Samuel 12:24 where David receives a son named Solomon, who went on to build temples. ‘He will crown you.’
When Ivo later married Etienne and they had their baby boy, they chose the name ‘Estevao’ because it means ‘crown’. He is, in his parents’ eyes, quite literally a gift from God.
Estevao Willian’s younger sister is called Esther, and all four family members have moved to Surrey to stay close to him on this Chelsea adventure. It is a nice network to have, and one which keeps him grounded.
You will find a black-and-white photograph of them posing together as his iPhone background when he is not using his mobile to watch YouTube clips of Neymar, who, like any Brazilian boy with joga bonito in their hearts, he grew up idolising.
Church even helped Estevao Willian hone his football skills as a child. While Ivo would pray in a side room, he was dribbling a ball in between the wooden benches. As we now know, breaking the odd religious ornament was worth it, but on Sunday those benches will have names: Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie, William Saliba and Jurrien Timber.
Chelsea fans hope their young sensation will start, but if not, his introductions as a substitute this season have proved a powerful tool in immediately lifting the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal boast the Premier League’s best defence and so, even without Gabriel, who picked up an injury while on Brazil duty, they will not allow Estevao Willian to have it easy whenever he is on the pitch.
Arsenal boast the Premier League’s best defence and so, even without the injured Gabriel (left) they will not allow Estevao Willian to have it easy whenever he is on the pitch
Chelsea fans hope their young sensation will start, but if not, his introductions as a substitute this season have proved a powerful tool in lifting the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge
This season, Chelsea have put on training drills designed to help their starlets cope with the physicality of the English game
This season, Chelsea have put on training drills designed to help their starlets cope with the physicality of the English game. They are a young side, after all; the youngest in Premier League history. The players are told to jog around a coned circle, bump into each other, and absorb those continuous collisions.
It’s chaos, like atoms in an accelerator, but also good fun. It usually ends in hugs, as was the case last week when Enzo Fernandez ran up to Estevao Willian as the exercise ended and, instead of barging into him, the Argentinian embraced the Brazilian instead.
Facing a wonderfully aggressive left back in Marc Cucurella in one-v-one practice gives him a good taste for what will follow in games. While he is the biggest joker at Cobham, Cucurella takes training seriously.
Earlier this week, the Spaniard jokingly told Estevao Willian to make sure he wore shin pads in their sessions before Barcelona so he could practise giving him a kicking in preparation for Yamal. Cucurella was named man of the match after pocketing the 18-year-old in that beating of Barca, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka will be his next target on Sunday.
The wingers including Estevao Willian are also treated to additional drills where they run up and down while fitness coach Marcos Alvarez acts as an annoyance, disrupting them.
As anyone who saw his solo goal against Barcelona – when he squirmed between Alejandro Balde and Pau Cubarsi before a 64mph strike – would testify, it can take some doing to stop him once in his stride.
It was reminiscent of the rocket he scored for Palmeiras against Chelsea at the Club World Cup and those blasts are slightly at odds with his father’s lessons when he was young.
Ivo taught his son to treat the ball with affection if he wanted it to go where he desired. Love it. Appreciate it. That was why Estevao Willian gave the ball a kiss before his penalty versus Ajax last month. He still walloped it one afterwards to become Chelsea’s youngest-ever scorer in the Champions League.
As anyone who saw Estevao Willian’s solo goal against Barcelona would testify, it can take some stopping him in his stride
It was eerily reminiscent of the goal he scored against Chelsea in the Club World Cup this summer, when he was still with Palmeiras
Facing the wonderfully aggressive Marc Cucurella in training gives Estevao Willian a good taste for what will follow – he even got a warning in the Club World Cup quarter-final
It helped that Estevao Willian had time to prepare for England with Chelsea signing him a year in advance of turning 18, for £29million rising to £56m. He tried to build muscle mass beforehand and now has his own personal gym programme at Cobham which includes explosive exercises.
As a kid, he would play with boys older than him. They were stronger, tougher, meaner. A kick to the knee here, an elbow in the gut there, and no fouls given, even when Ivo was filling in as the referee. He got used to being bloodied, bruised, beaten down and told to give up asking for the ball. Today, Estevao Willian himself will tell you those experiences made him more resilient.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is trying not to ask too much too soon of Estevao Willian. He has been easing him in – his fellow right winger Pedro Neto has started every Premier League game this season instead – and Maresca was quick to tell us reporters what’s what when we asked whether his goal against Barcelona reminded him of Lionel Messi.
Maresca’s system relies on his wingers succeeding in one-v-ones, but his message to Estevao Willian has been clear: enjoy your football, forget external expectations, focus on yourself.
Already he has 11 Brazil caps and five goals, four in his last four games, including smashing one past former Chelsea ‘keeper Edouard Mendy a fortnight ago in a 2-0 friendly win over Senegal at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Perhaps a good omen for the weekend.
Estevao Willian will be at Chelsea for a long time. While the club have never officially confirmed the length of his contract, Daily Mail Sport is told he signed until 2033. There is scope for improving his terms along the way, but in truth, it is too early for talk of that. Cole Palmer was handed his new-and-improved deal after a single season with the Blues, but he managed 41 goals and assists in 45 games in his first campaign. Estevao Willian is currently on six from 17.
There is no denying the excitement is similar to that surrounding Palmer, and Chelsea are thrilled they secured this teenager from Palmeiras before everyone else, including Sunday’s opponents Arsenal, who were one of many tracking his early progress in Brazil.
As a kid, he would play with boys older than him. He got used to being bloodied, bruised, beaten down and told to give up asking for the ball
Already he has 11 Brazil caps and five goals, four in his last four games, including smashing one past former Chelsea ‘keeper Edouard Mendy a fortnight ago at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium
There is no denying the excitement is similar to that surrounding Cole Palmer, and Chelsea are thrilled they secured this teenager from Palmeiras before everyone else
Mikel Arteta loves his unorthodox training methods, like the time he used speakers in a session to blast the Liverpool anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone to prepare his players for visiting Anfield.
For Stamford Bridge, then, perhaps he ought to get his squad used to That’s The Way (I Like It) by KC and the Sunshine Band. That is the song of choice around Chelsea nowadays, adapted to: ‘Estevao, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh.’
It has not yet been played in the changing room – Estevao Willian’s seat and locker are in the corner directly next to the sound system – but we are told the Brazilian loved hearing it as the players paraded the stadium after the win over Barcelona.
Arteta does not want to hear the Stamford Bridge DJ pressing play on that song on Sunday. If he does, it will mean it is full-time, Chelsea have beaten Arsenal, and, God willing, Estevao Willian made his mark yet again.
