Exclusive: Chelsea won race for wonderkid transfer despite “significant” PSG effort, claims expert

Chelsea were able to see off competition from Paris Saint-Germain for the transfer of Palmeiras wonderkid Estevao Willian, according to Jonathan Johnson.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Johnson provided some insight into how hard PSG also tried to sign Estevao when they were looking at him and other talented young Brazilian players not that long ago.

In the end, PSG chief Luis Campos felt he was being priced out of a move for the teenager, and instead focused on signing two other top talents from the South American nation in the form of Lucas Beraldo and Gabriel Moscardo.

Estevao, meanwhile, has ended up agreeing a move to Chelsea for 2025, and one imagines this could end up looking like a failed deal that PSG will live to regret.

Estevao transfer excitement for Chelsea as PSG missed out

Fabrizio Romano recently wrote in his Daily Briefing column about how excited Chelsea are to be welcoming Estevao to Stamford Bridge next year as they’re convinced they’ve signed a special talent.

The 17-year-old has been compared to Lionel Messi already, and Johnson has made it pretty clear that PSG made a significant effort to win the race for his signature, even if CFC ultimately beat them to it.

“There was a time when PSG were looking at Estevao Willian, who is impressing with Palmeiras ahead of a keenly anticipated move to Chelsea next year. PSG monitored the Brazilian youngster very closely, as well as other players, having of course signed both Lucas Beraldo and Gabriel Moscardo last winter,” Johnson said.

“Estevao, or ‘Messinho’ as he’s sometimes known, was another player PSG were looking at, and they made an attempt to sign him. PSG tried to do a deal with Palmeiras, but couldn’t quite come to an agreement, and for that reason they decided to focus on Beraldo and Moscardo instead.

“Although Estevao is a highly regarded talent, it wasn’t really a position that PSG desperately needed to strengthen at that time, and so they focused on defence and midfield.”

He added: “Another key reason PSG ended up dropping out of the Estevao deal was that Luis Campos, when he was in Brazil, felt they were being priced out of the move by Palmeiras. So instead he focused on getting the deals done for Beraldo and Moscardo.

“So when you look at how it all played out, it’s not too surprising that PSG placed a higher emphasis on the other two Brazilian players they signed, but that’s not to say that they didn’t make a significant effort to sign Estevao, as they got to the stage when they were negotiating a pretty substantial transfer fee.”