Chelsea set to announce Enzo Maresca second summer signing in coming days
This summer, Chelsea has already added one player, and they want to reveal a second. When Tosin Adarabioyo’s Whites contract expired, he took a free transfer from Fulham to west London.
The defender is effectively Thiago Silva’s straight replacement after he departed Stamford Bridge to rejoin Fluminense in his native Brazil. However, based on the departure of one experienced player from Chelsea to Brazil, it appears that a bright young potential is heading in the other direction.
Estevao Willian, a gifted adolescent expected to earn a big-money contract from Palmeiras, has been linked to the Blues for a while. According to reports, the 17-year-old in west London cleared a medical exam and signed a contract totaling an initial £30million rising to £51million struck.
The Brazilian wonderkid will be Enzo Maresca’s second summer signing, with the new boss hoping even more will come through the door to bolster the squad he inherited from Mauricio Pochettino.
Willian may take time to settle into the Premier League, given his young age, but there is little doubt in Brazil that he will be a huge success. He has been likened to Lionel Messi, although such comparisons have irked Julio Baptista.
Baptista graced the Premier League with Arsenal on loan in the 2006/07 season and he can’t wait to see Willian in England’s top flight.
Speaking to Oddspedia, Baptista said: “Estevao Willian is an incredible talent coming out of Brazil but I don’t like him being compared to a player like Lionel Messi.
“The talent coming out of Brazil is incredible but the expectation can weigh on them a little bit. But he can become an incredible player and is a great signing for Chelsea.”
With a medical already completed an announcement over a deal is surely imminent.