How many big games Lionel Messi has left in his career is up to the Argentine star. What won’t help his cause for carrying on is sharing a pitch with someone two decades his junior being hailed in his honour.
On Tuesday night, Inter Miami and Palmeiras meet at the Club World Cup in a battle of ‘Messi vs Messinho’. Brazilian teenager Estevao Willian gets the chance to face the generational talent he has been compared to via the nickname given to him by his former club Cruzeiro.
It is being billed as the best player from the current generation against the best from the next one.
“In terms of Estevao, we could be talking about a phenomenon,” South American expert Tim Vickery tells Sky Sports. That is not the only comparison to the legendary Argentine.
“He is slightly built, left-footed – all is tied to that left foot. Like Messi, he’s not a performing seal,” adds Vickery.
Estevao Willian is one of the most talented teenagers in world football
“I remember seeing Messi at 17 and the thing that really stood out was his appreciation of space. He wasn’t doing tricks around 40 yards from goal. It was the capacity to attack, identify the vulnerable space in the opposing defence.
“You look at Estevao’s build physically, you wouldn’t expect him to be attacking that space and competing in that space. But he does.
“Perhaps a more exact comparison is Rodrygo of Real Madrid. Estevao is a left-footed version of him. Slightly built, very fluid. It’s like he’s on water when he’s carrying the ball – full of changes of pace and rhythm.”
It’s good news for Chelsea, given this Club World Cup is his last involvement for the Brazilian club before he moves to Stamford Bridge, with an initial £29.1m deal agreed last summer. That was not always the plan, though.
A year ago, Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira declared his desire to keep Estevao at the club until 2027. The reason? “I really think this player is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said the coach. “A boy who defends, attacks, shows himself in the game.”
Given this is one of Brazilian football’s most experienced coaches – who has overseen the progression of players such as Endrick, Joao Palhinha and Pedro Neto – it is some praise. But the manager’s pleas fell on deaf ears.
“In part, it’s mentality,” adds Vickery about what Ferreira likes most about Estevao. “He uses Estevao as an example to the other youth players. He gets the ball, it doesn’t come off, but his head never drops and he gets back up and tries again.
“He’s not a luxury player although he is slightly built. They love his ability to combine. He’s an individual with great talent, he’s not an individualist. He’s got a great vision of the game.
“He’s able to work back and help out the full-back as well. It’s the range of his talents, the strength of his mentality that has charmed the Palmeiras coach.”
His plaudits have not just come at club level but on the international stage too. Estevao was handed his first Brazil call-up last September – less than six months after he burst onto the scene at Palmeiras.
His first Selecao start came in Carlo Ancelotti’s first match as Brazil coach, highlighting how highly he is rated by one of the world’s best coaches.
Estevao made his first Brazil start in Carlo Ancelotti’s first game
That will suit Chelsea just nicely – seeing their former manager give a huge vote of confidence to one of their incoming talents. As will comments by Willian – who knows a thing or two about being a Brazilian wide player at Stamford Bridge – about the teenage winger.
“Without a doubt he has a lot of potential, a lot of quality,’ Willian told ESPN Brasil recently.
“The player has the advantage of still being so young, but with great potential like Lamine Yamal. They have a similar style.”
But from the famous Palmeiras academy that is producing a lorry load of young talent, can he make an impact at Chelsea straight away?
Enzo Maresca has said he is not focused on Estevao at the moment, instead concentrating on the players he currently has – and Palmeiras youngsters have had a mixed record in terms of making an immediate impact in England.
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Highlights of Chelsea’s win over LAFC at the Club World Cup
Gabriel Jesus hit the ground running at Manchester City but Vitor Reis has needed more time to settle in at the Etihad Stadium. So has Luis Guilherme at West Ham, who is still getting up to speed with everything.
But none of those players were branded as a phenomenon. “One of the reasons that he chose Chelsea was he was told that he wasn’t going to be loaned out, he’s going to be in competition for a first-team place right away,” says Vickery.
Given Chelsea also have another South American wonderkid in Ecuador’s 18-year-old starlet Kendry Paez, but have not named him in their Club World Cup squad and are set to loan him out for the forthcoming season, keeping him in London next season shows they have seen enough in Estevao to believe he will start off strongly.
But up first is a match-up with Messi, which could seal Palmeiras’ spot in the knockout rounds, where he could, of course, go on to play the English team he is set to join this summer.
Estevao would get his Chelsea audition quicker than expected. Maresca would not be able to ignore him any longer.
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season
From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
