Joe Cole shares the ‘worry’ he now has about Estevao Willian at Chelsea
Estevao Willian is one of the most promising young players Chelsea have ever had at his age, however Joe Cole believes those around him at Stamford Bridge could hold back his development.
Despite injuries, Estevao has been able to give glimpses of what he is all about to Chelsea supporters. He famously completely outshone Lamine Yamal in the Champions League win over Barcelona.
Enzo Maresca was very keen to protect the Brazil international from too much football in the early stages of his Chelsea career, and his reasoning may have been realised as he has suffered a hamstring injury that has ended his chances of featuring at the World Cup.
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Estevao and Joao Pedro were set to continue their promising relationship on the international stage, with the duo linking up on a number of occasions at Stamford Bridge.
It is all the other teammates who Joe Cole is slightly worried about when it comes to helping the teenager, and their lack of experience at the top level.
He said to TNT Sports: “Well, you’ve not seen the best of him, but we’ve seen flashes of it. And when he gets on the pitch, he lights up the whole stadium. The whole stadium lights up, right? And it needs it at the moment.
“The only problem I worry about him is there ain’t enough experience around him.
“Max Dowman can look at Eze, Odegaard and Saka, You know, the only thing with Estevao, is his development might take a bit longer because of the structure around him to help him improve, but he’s a superb talent.”
Outside of Pedro Neto, Chelsea’s options out wide are young. Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens have struggled to step up to the levels required, and Jesse Derry’s debut lasted just 45 minutes due to a serious head injury.
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Chelsea’s new manager has to get the best out of Estevao
Experience can come from the dugout too, and the Chelsea owners are currently taking great care over who should become their new manager.
Xabi Alonso has been strongly linked to Stamford Bridge, and while supporters are on board with this, there are concerns that this may not be ideal for the Brazilian wonderkid.
Alonso favours a back three that could see Estevao’s place become hard to find in the starting side.
There are a number of big names in West London who the new manager has to get back to form, including Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella.
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