John Barnes Claims Chelsea Star Could End Up Like Jadon Sancho

John Barnes: "He's Done Nothing!"

Wonderkids in football are always a fan-favourite topic of discussion.

Watching some teenager making more money than is likely fathomable to you or I showing experience far beyond his years and leaving legions of excited supporters wondering what they were up to when they were the same age.

Chelsea are a team known for their younger players being involved in the side, be that new arrivals that have been brought in externally such as Alejandro Garnacho or Jamie Gittens, or through the medium of their impressive academy that has produced the likes of Jamal Musiala, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori, to name a few.

This season there has been another young talent wreathed in blue that has left supporters purring at present and terribly excited for his future after a solid start to his life at Stamford Bridge. However, Liverpool and England legend John Barnes has called for patience from the supporters making bold claims over the future of the teenage talent.

Liverpool Legend Asks For Patience

Estevao is the young talent in question, who has left Chelsea supporters almost falling over themselves in excitement to a similar manner in which he has left opposing fullbacks in over his 16 Blues appearances so far.

However, it appears he has work to do if he wants to win over John Barnes. The former Liverpool and Newcastle United winger hasn't yet bought into the hype surrounding the young Brazilian, suggesting to Video Gamer that he is yet to achieve anything in West London just yet:

“Estevao is a young player who has come into the team and is doing well at the moment,” said Barnes. “However, I remember Jadon Sancho doing the same thing and based off that I tend to leave opinions on young players alone and wait for them to grow. We can’t start putting pressure on him yet.

“In reality, he’s had 10 good games… he’s done nothing! He’s got lots of potential, but we’ve seen that at Chelsea before and there’s lots of examples where it hasn’t worked out. He’s not going to be a starter every week because they have so many players and all of a sudden, if he has a few below-par performances, we could be writing him off after another 10 games.

“He has good potential, lots of ability and he can be a very good player, but at this moment in time he has done nothing and achieved nothing.”

Estevao marked his first Premier League start with an eye-catching assist against West Ham, and scored a dramatic late winner against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge to secure his first league goal for the club whilst netting a further three across the Carabao Cup and the Champions League.

However, he clearly has work to do before he convinces Barnes of his credentials, with the Liverpool legend calling for fans to not over-hype the 18-year-old Brazilian.

Barnes Claims Palmer Return Won't Help Chelsea

The twice-crowned top-flight champion is also wary of the return to the Chelsea side for currently-injured Cole Palmer, stating that the 23-year-old's return to the team could disrupt Chelsea's squad harmony:

“Chelsea have been very good without Cole Palmer. What are they going to do when he comes back? I don’t necessarily think they’re going to be any better than they are right now.

“In many respects, Palmer coming back could distract from the other players and they may not be as good as a team, because when he’s in the team it all has to be about him. They have to find the right balance. He’s obviously a great player, but I don’t think his return is going to make them much better because they’ve been playing much more as a team without him. Watch this space."

Barnes would go on to reference star players of old who were stars in lower-quality sides:

“I’m always wary of players who perform well individually in teams that aren’t as good. I remember Georgi Kinkladze being the best player at Manchester City when they got relegated in 1996 and if they’d had better team players rather than him, they may not have gone down.”

Palmer has been out of action for Chelsea since the 20th of September, when he was withdrawn in favour of Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos in the 21st minute of 2-1 loss to Manchester United.