Estevao Willian is a superb player and one that I will always applaud the Chelsea decision makers and scouts for spotting and getting a deal done early doors before other big clubs came in.
His talent is immense, he has the X-factor, and he can get to world beater level. Of course he can be the next Neymar.
Every week we see fresh highlights of his incredible skill, passing, determination, and finishing abilities. He has had an amazing season ahead of joining us in the summer. His stats are wild for his age, and he has been breaking records left, right, and centre.
However, THE most important ‘stat’ here that every single fan needs to remember is that he will only become an adult in April this year. He is VERY young and still raw at 17-years-old.
Playing in Brazil is completely different to playing in the Premier League. Brazil as a country is completely different to England. There will be so many huge changes for a very young teenager who will be a teen for the next two years still.
We all simply must give him time to settle, adapt, get used to the league, and just give him all the time he needs. Because this is a special talent, but he has been completely hyped up on a weekly basis.
I see fans thinking he is going to be Chelsea’s saviour and is going to bang right away, leading us into the Champions League. We need to curb our enthusiasm a bit here because he needs us to.
Of course he backs himself fully and that is another huge asset, he has a lot of confidence and has a strong mentality.
But how many times have we seen young players hyped this way to then just fade out when they are supposed to become the next biggest thing? I’m old enough to remember MANY situations like this.
Chelsea as a club will need to handle him well and the manager will also need to help him adapt and use him wisely.
I just think we need to tone our expectations a bit. If he comes in and bangs right away then brilliant, but let that be him exceeding expectations rather than living up to them. Because a young kid does not need that pressure and when you have a gem, you need to make sure we polish it and keep it clean.
