Who is the Most Exciting Wonderkid in the World?

Who is the Most Exciting Wonderkid in the World?

There are countless unheralded teenagers being labelled as the next big thing in football right now: Warren Zaire-Emery, Max Dowman, Gavi, Pau Cubarsi and numerous others. But let’s be honest, there are only two teenagers in the whole world that football fans care about right now - Barcelona’s indomitable Lamine Yamal, and Chelsea’s latest secret weapon, Willian Estavao.

Both are just a tender 18 years old, but both are playing like they have a past life of experience to draw from - perhaps they do; it is the only plausible explanation for the alien things we are privileged enough to witness every time they play.

We are becoming used to it when it comes to Yamal - the winger has been dropping jaws and embarrassing full-backs since 2023. However, with every week that passes, Estevao’s case for being placed in that elite discussion becomes stronger and stronger, and it is easy to see why.

Soon as Estevao was coming on, the whole of Stamford Bridge came to life, he has real aura.

And it took him 68 seconds to create the goal, this is not normal, it's like Eden Hazard on the right.

Chelsea have a new Fresh Prince. pic.twitter.com/t9pPZGKnFu

— Ta🧢 (@Tiamcfc) November 9, 2025

The Brazilian is in the 99th percentile for virtually every attacking and creative metric imaginable, a remarkable feat considering that more than half of his appearances for his new club have come from the bench.

The Brazilian has not just been making waves in the Premier League; he’s been summoning tsunamis. But is he ready to be compared to a teenager who many already consider one of the best in the world? Well, let’s dive in …

A New Dawn

When it was announced in May of last year, Chelsea’s confirmation of the signing of Estevao was met with huge fanfare, which, for a player from the Brazilian Serie A, caught many others by surprise.

Playing for Palmeiras at the time, Estevão was already treated as the second coming of Pelé at the reigning Brazilian champions - having broken into the team at just 16 years old, the influence he would end up having at the club would be unthinkable.

Making just one appearance in 2023, the right-winger took the country by storm in his first full season the next year, racking up 15 goals and 10 assists along with the Bola de Ouro, or Golden Ball, the award given to the best Serie A player that season. At just 17 years, 7 months and 15 days, the youngster became the youngest ever winner of the award, one which had previously been held by the likes of Zico, Pele, Kaka, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Estevao Willian is the true star ⭐️ #Chelsea
[@SofascoreINT] pic.twitter.com/ce3Q8NDYxY

— Blue Season Daily (@BlueSeasonDaily) November 15, 2024

In the process, his first full Serie A campaign cast some of the world’s best players into shadow - Vini Jr only managed four goal contributions back in his debut campaign in 2017, while fellow Real Madrid duo Rodrygo and Endrick also failed to come close to Estevão’s tally. Talk about bursting onto the scene.

So when Chelsea acquired him for a fee which could eventually rise to over £50 million, few were surprised - a number even indicated that in the future, this fee would be looked back on as one of the bargains of the century, and so far, the prediction looks spot on.

However, it is one thing to make the Brazilian top flight look like child’s play; it is another issue entirely to seamlessly adapt to arguably the best league in the world at a club notorious for a lack of patience and trophy-tinted vision for the future.

Managing Expectations

Fortunately, Enzo Maresca is a sensible manager. Careful not to start him week in and week out, in the process preventing any undue pressure from falling on the teenager’s shoulders, the manager has created the perfect environment for Estevao to learn, grow and adapt to arguably the most physical league on the planet.

Selling Noni Madueke, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku in the summer, it was clear that Chelsea were making room for their new starboy, but they were also careful to ensure they brought in suitable backup to avoid placing too much responsibility on Estevao from the outset. The arrival of Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Gittens also had the dual effect of bringing in figures Estevao could learn from.

With Pedro Neto and Tyrique George also battling for superiority in the wide positions, Estevao has largely been used as an impact player from the bench, watching and assessing the game in order to figure out how best to make his mark.

What a mark he has made so far - despite playing just 662 minutes for the club since August, Brazil’s next greatest export has underlined his intentions from the outset - positive running, magical dribbling, and a rarely seen combination of innovation, decision-making and maturity.

All Brain No Brawn • Estevao is PURE IQ…

Rare to have that eerie blend of IQ for penetration, retention, progression and consistency of technique.

Only thing holding him back is the physical edge. If develops world class pace and power could be best in league.#CFC #Chelsea pic.twitter.com/cEe903yrXs

— Pythagoras In Boots ⚽️ (@pythaginboots) November 10, 2025

In other words, Estevao is capable of doing almost anything he wants with a football, but his football IQ is so high that he knows exactly when to choose the sensible option and when to make a defender look like he belongs on a Sunday League pitch. With four goals and a couple of assists to his name already, he has taken like a duck to water in the English top flight.

Very few active players are capable of doing this at will; Lionel Messi and, of course, Yamal are the only two that spring to mind, so already, the company Estevao is keeping is the best of the best.

Of course, Yamal has outscored him so far this season with six goals and five assists, something which is to be expected considering the Spaniard starts virtually every game for Barcelona. However, when you look past the attacking output and look at the underlying stats, things become a lot less clear-cut between the two.

🇪🇦⭐ Lamine Yamal in all competitions for Barcelona this season:

👕 11 Games
⚽ 11 G/A pic.twitter.com/dTXtMmvu3b

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) November 9, 2025

Willian Estevao vs Lamine Yamal

As expected, Yamal leads the way for total XG (4.5 to Estevao’s 4) and Expected Assists (XA; 3.1 to 2.1), courtesy of the extra 200 or so minutes he has on his Brazilian counterpart. However, the per-90 stats are where things start to get interesting.

Despite leading both metrics in a “total accumulated” capacity, Estevao dominates the per 90 metrics. In non-penalty XG per 90, Estevao sits at a remarkable 0.51 compared to Yamal’s 0.3 – when XA is added to the mix, Estevao comes out at a combined 0.84, while Yamal lags behind on 0.62.

Despite playing more than two games fewer than Yamal, Estevao is consistently doing more with the ball at his feet, whether it be teeing up his teammates or creating a goalscoring opportunity for himself. Yamal is arguably the best winger in the world; surely this stat should be getting more attention than it currently is?

One reason for this is Estevao’s shot accuracy - 33% of his efforts in a Chelsea shirt have at least hit the target, while Yamal only manages this 28% of the time. It may not sound like much, but less wasteful shooting plays a big part in a healthy XG figure.

The Chelsea man has also received more progressive passes than the Ballon d’Or runner-up (11 vs 9.4), showing that he is adept at making himself available in even the most advanced positions, while his passing tends to be more accurate, the ball reaching its target 79.2% of the time compared to 76% for Yamal.

He’s unreal dawg pic.twitter.com/x4WDovuIC0

— EstêvãoEra (@EstevaoWilll_41) November 7, 2025

However, in spite of Estevao’s obviously special talent, it would be remiss of me to ignore all the metrics that Yamal excels in. The Barcelona star dominates both progressive carries and progressive passes (7.24 vs 4.92 and 5.31 vs 2.38) and has shown a lethal touch in front of goal, overperforming his XG figure by 1.5 goals, while Estevao underperforms at one fewer than expected.

His dribbling stats are also well up on the Brazilian’s: His yards per 90 stats for progression distance (212 vs 152), total carry distance (346 vs 266), and average number of carries (47 vs 34) all dwarf Estevao’s, and the Spaniard is also an expert at drawing fouls out of his opposite numbers. This season alone, Yamal has been fouled 21 times, a remarkable figure when placed alongside Estevao’s measly two, although the Chelsea star is not one to go down unless he is left with no other choice.

In truth, the La Masia graduate leads the way in most metrics, testament to the fact that he is now in his third full season of senior football in one of Europe’s top five leagues, while Estevao is still discovering what it takes to be a world beater in the same cauldron of expectation.

Yamal one-two with Fermín López 🤤#UCL pic.twitter.com/Uh7TN4rkBC

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 10, 2025

But it is clear to see that the Chelsea starboy is something special, and the baseline stats prove it: per 90, both sit in the 99th percentile for successful take-ons and in the top three percent for touches in the attacking penalty area. Yamal also sits in the 99th percentile for shots per 90, while Estevao occupies that bracket for both non-penalty XG and XG+XA per 90.

Both are outrageous talents in their own right and have the ability to single-handedly flip games on their head for their respective sides. With Estevao still being protected to an extent, further output will come with time, but there is no doubt his ceiling is virtually infinite.

His immediate impact off the bench against Wolves at the weekend only strengthened the opinion already moulded in the wake of his 90+5 winner against Liverpool and consecutive Champions League goals: this kid is the real deal, and he’s here to change English football.

Estêvão vs Wolves

Instant impact. pic.twitter.com/9RshGkARDT

— SB (@ShowBoat00) November 8, 2025

Could he be capable of exceeding the sky-high level Yamal has been operating at for the last year? Possibly. Can he compete with the Spaniard for future trophies and awards? Absolutely. The only question on everyone’s list is this: when can we see more of Willian Estevao?