Why Chelseas Young Talent Could Win the Ballon dOr

Chelsea’s precocious teenager Estêvão has been backed to win the Ballon d’Or by Tunisia manager Sami Trabelsi in the future following an exceptional start to his fledgling career.

The Brazilian emerged as one of football’s most promising wonderkids at Palmeiras and was signed by Chelsea in 2024, before eventually teaming up with the Blues after last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup triumph.

The 18-year-old has made an explosive start to life at Stamford Bridge, featuring 16 times in all competitions for the Blues and scoring four times. Such impressive form has translated to the international stage, too, with four goals for Brazil’s senior side since the start of September.

One of those strikes came against Senegal last Saturday at the Emirates Stadium, with Estêvão primed to feature in Brazil’s second friendly of the international break on Tuesday against Tunisia.

Speaking before the fixture staged in France, Tunisia manager Trabelsi lavished praise on Estêvao, insisting he could be a future Ballon d’Or winner.

Trabelsi’s admiration of the Chelsea phenom is clear. The 57-year-old is so enamoured by Estêvão that he branded him a “genius” on three separate occasions during his prematch press duties ahead of Tuesday’s game.

“I think he’s a new football genius emerging, very young,” Trabelsi told ESPN. “I think he’s doing very well and he’s a player who can be expected to be among the greats, among the best in the world, certainly, in the coming years.”

He added: “If he manages to have good performances or win titles, whether with his club or national team, he will be among the players who, in the coming years, could even compete for the Ballon d’Or.”

And Trabelsi wasn’t done there. “He brings many solutions, a lot of technique, a lot of genius. There aren’t many players of that level, of that category of genius, on the world stage.”

Estêvão will be aiming to continue impressing Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which the Seleção will discover their group stage opponents during December’s draw.

The dynamic forward has already caught the eye of Enzo Maresca and will be keen to play his part in Chelsea’s upcoming clash away at Burnley this Saturday.

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