Exclusive with the team: Esteban himself chose to join Chelsea; he will switch to the No. 10 position in the future

Hupu reported on November 25 that the famous Daily Mail reporter Kieran Gil wrote a column for Esteban.

Barcelona also paid attention to Esteban, but Chelsea signed a pre-agreement with him in 2024, when he was only 17 years old. Chelsea's recruitment department is jointly led by Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

Esteban joined Chelsea from Palmeiras when he was 18 years old. The transfer fee was 29 million pounds, and the summer transfer fee increased to 55 million pounds. At that time, the outside world called him "the next Neymar".

The Brazilian star’s agent is Andre Curry, a former Nike executive who has helped Barcelona sign many South American players over the years, including Neymar, who joined from Santos in 2013.

Curry has a very close relationship with Barcelona. In 2017, it was reported that Curry received a commission of up to 5.9 million pounds from Neymar's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona immediately issued a statement threatening legal action. The statement read: "Mr. Curry signed a non-exclusive contract with the club through his company and is responsible for scouting work."

Although this football tycoon has helped Barcelona sign Neymar, Paulinho, Yerry Mina, Philippe Coutinho, Arthur Melo and many other stars, Esteban himself has said that playing for Barcelona is his "dream", but this time, Curry did not take his client to the Nou Camp.

He signed a pre-agreement with another Brazilian genius Vito Roque the year before. Roque was only 17 years old at the time. At the age of 18, Roque signed a long-term contract, which included a release clause of up to 427 million pounds. His transfer fee is reported to be £25.6 million, with a maximum transfer fee of £52 million.

However, the 18-year-old's treatment at Barcelona did not seem to be satisfactory at the time. The lack of opportunities meant that he almost only stayed for one season. Now 20 years old, he has returned to Brazil and joined Palmeiras.

Chelsea won the battle and signed Esteban. How did they do it? Time is of the essence, especially with Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and many other giants eyeing the deal.

Chelsea has been monitoring Esteban for many years through its international scouting network. He became the youngest Brazilian player to sign with Nike at the age of 10, so his budding talent was no secret, but the Blues are said to have made the move earlier than their rivals.

They don't have to waste time doing extra homework - Alisson Mullins is now one of Chelsea's chief scouts in Brazil and the Daily Mail understands he will fly to London for Tuesday's Champions League game - and, crucially, Esteban himself has been aware of Chelsea's interest for a long time.

Stamford Bridge insiders revealed that the reason why Chelsea was able to sign Esteban first was largely due to Esteban’s belief and personality. He had many choices, but he finally chose Chelsea because he had long known Chelsea's training plan for him.

Eventually, we can expect to see Esteban playing in the center rather than on the right, similar to the transformation of Cole Palmer, who now plays the No. 10 position at Chelsea.

Chelsea's scouts also benefited from the boss's support and finally completed the signing. Not all executives would agree to spend at least £29m to sign a 17-year-old potential starlet, but they are now happy they have made the decision.

Chelsea are in no rush to overuse him. He has just entered the Premier League, the club wants to protect him, and there is still plenty of time. After all, his contract doesn't expire until 2032.

However, this step-by-step strategy hardly works when Chelsea fans have high hopes for him and are disappointed that he doesn't start every week. He has scored four goals for Chelsea in all competitions so far this season.

Esteban came on as a substitute against Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. In the 88th minute of the game, he took off his training shirt - a lot of which he wore as he found the climate cold in London, let alone Lancashire - when he was told to put it back on.

The reason is that he witnessed Pedro Neto, who was supposed to be replaced by him, involved in Chelsea's second goal.

Some fans are dissatisfied with this. But actually, that was probably a compliment, as Maresca felt the game was already won and there was no point in risking Esteban against a frustrated Burnley squad considering the next opponent was Barcelona.

Neto is the right winger that Maresca relies on in the Premier League, and he played the full 90 minutes this time, which makes people speculate whether he will serve as a substitute in the Champions League.