Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira has encouraged Chelsea to "take care" of Estevao Willian after his time with the Brazilian giants came to an end on Friday night.

Despite being due to arrive at Chelsea in a £51.5m transfer later this month, the 18-year-old was part of the Palmeiras starting lineup for the Club World Cup quarter-final in Philadelphia.

The Blues have progressed through to the last four courtesy of a fine Cole Palmer finish and an own goal from Giay Agustin, yet it was Estevao who, somewhat inevitably, made the headlines.

Shortly after the break, the Brazil international powered a shot from an acute angle into the net off the underside of the crossbar, the player celebrating wildly and making it clear that he had no divided loyalties at this point.

However, at the full-time whistle, he was able to consider himself a Chelsea player going forward, concluding his Palmeiras career with 27 goals and 15 assists from 83 appearances.

He came ✅ He played ✅ He made them notice ?

Estevão vs Chelsea ?⚽

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An emotional Ferreira speaks on Estevao

After the game, Ferreira reflected on Estevao's time at the Brasileiro side, stressing that he hoped that Chelsea would not place too much pressure on the teenager during the early months of his time at Stamford Bridge.

As quoted by BBC Sport, Ferreira said: "I spoke before with Maresca and told him 'you bought an amazing player but more than this you bought an amazing person'.

"You need to take care of him. You need to embrace him and in the beginning for sure he will make mistakes. Like you saw today he is an amazing player with a lot of skill. He is a player who can win a game alone."

Estevao also reacted to his pending switch to England, saying: "Palmeiras opened the door for me. I was deeply happy in Palmeiras and my family knows how happy I was.

"I'm very happy I could score a goal to help my club unfortunately this wasn't the result we wanted but we gave our best on the pitch and now I am moving on."

What next for Estevao?

Enzo Maresca has already spoken of the need to allow Estevao to go through a transitional period in English football.

Meanwhile, with Estevao having just played his 37th game for Palmeiras since the start of the year, he is now expected to take an extended break.

As it stands, there are no plans for the playmaker to go out on loan, instead being a part of Maresca's squad for next season's Premier League and Champions League.

Written by
Darren Plant