Estêvão Willian

Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves (born 24 April 2007), simply known as Estêvão Willian, Estêvão, or by his nickname Messinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras. He will join Premier League club Chelsea on 1 July 2025.

Early life
Estêvão was born in Franca, Brazil, and began his youth career with the academy of Cruzeiro in 2017. 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.

Club career
Estêvão moved to the youth academy of Palmeiras on 6 May 2021, signing a trainee contract. In the 2022 season, he helped the Palmeiras youth teams win the Campeonato Paulista Sub-17, Campeonato Paulista Sub-15, Copa do Brasil Sub-17 and Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17. 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.

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. At 16 years and 8 months, he became the club's fourth youngest player ever.

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.

Chelsea
On 22 June 2024, it was announced that Estêvão would join Premier League club Chelsea in the summer of 2025, upon his eighteenth birthday. The deal reportedly commanded a €34 million fee, plus €23 million in performances-based incentives.

International career
Estêvão was first called up to represent the Brazil U17s in October 2022 for a set of friendlies in October 2022.

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

Honours
Palmeiras
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2023
 * Campeonato Paulista: 2024