Chelsea have received plenty of criticism – some justifiably – for their transfer policy over the last few years.

However, while the club have certainly made their fair share of poor signings, and perhaps even sold some players they shouldn’t have, they’ve also acquired some brilliant young talents.

The likes of Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato and Estevao could all come good and lead the team to real success in the coming years.

The latter gem, in particular, is seen by many as a future superstar, but the club now looks to have secured the future of another youngster who could be just as good, if not better, and a future rival for Lamine Yamal.

Why Estevao coule be a world-beater

Chelsea beat a number of other top European sides to Estevao’s signature in the summer of 2024, but due to his age, the young Brazilian had to wait another year before joining up with Maresca’s squad.

The teenage sensation made good use of that time in his homeland, scoring 12 goals and providing five assists in 37 appearances for Palmeiras last season, which took his total output with the club to an impressive 27 goals and 15 assists in 83 appearances.

Since arriving on these shores, the Franca-born gem has wasted no time showing fans of English football just why he’s so highly rated and is seen as a “future Ballon d’Or winner” by respected analyst Ben Mattinson.

Appearances

83

Minutes

5610′

Goals

27

Assists

15

Goal Involvements per Match

0.50

Minutes per Goal Involvement

133.57′

For example, he proved a real threat when coming off the bench to make his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace in the Blues’ opening game of the season.

Then, just a couple of weeks later, he made his full debut for the club, starting against West Ham United and running their defence ragged.

The East Londoners just could not live with his brilliant close control, quick decision-making and turn of pace, which allowed him to provide his first assist of the campaign to Joao Pedro.

Since then, the youngster has continued to impress in bursts, with a particularly mercurial piece of dribbling getting Stamford Bridge on their feet against Benfica.

In all, it does feel like Estevao is destined to make it to the very top of the game, and now it looks like Chelsea have got their hands on another prospect who could not only rival him, but Yamal as well.

Chelsea's future Yamal rival

There is no sign of Chelsea slowing down their pursuit of some of the most exciting youngsters in world football, and the next gem everyone could be talking about is Dastan Satpayev.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

The Blues agreed a deal to sign the incredibly exciting prospect from the Kazakhstani side Kairat Almaty in February of this year for a fee of around €4m, which is about £3.5m.

However, as was the case with Estevao, he cannot join up with the squad until he is 18 years old, which will be next August.

The 17-year-old is in the news somewhat at the moment, as he has now made his Champions League debut, playing against Sporting CP and Real Madrid.

The youngster played a key role in the club, even making it into the competition proper, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the seven qualifying games, which saw them ultimately beat Celtic to make it.

There is an enormous amount of excitement over what the Almaty-born dynamo could achieve in the coming years, so much so that one scout labelled him “a future Ballon d’Or winner” and not only that, but “a future rival to Lamine Yamal.”

That might sound like too much pressure to put on a youngster’s shoulders, but he’s shown no signs of being even remotely fazed by senior football.

For example, in 30 appearances this season, totalling 2146 minutes, the “incredible” prospect, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored eight goals and provided 13assists.

In other words, he has maintained an average of a goal involvement every 1.42 games, or every 102 minutes, despite only turning 17 in August.

Ultimately, there is a long and winding road ahead for Satpayev, but as things stand, he appears to be a future superstar, someone who could potentially push Estevao at Chelsea and possibly even rival Yamal for the biggest individual honours.

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