Will Chelsea be crowned champions of the world this week?
Last Friday night, the Blues beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in Philly.
Enzo Maresca’s men then took on another Brazilian side in Fluminense in Tuesday’s semi-final at MetLife Stadium, reaching the final after Joao Pedro delivered a stunning individual performance, scoring twice in a 2-0 win. Now, they will take on either Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid in East Rutherford on Sunday.
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The winger has been linked with a move away from los Blancos this summer, having seen a miserly 27 minutes on the field across their last four Club World Cup fixtures, an unused substitute against both Pachuca and Juventus.
Arsenal have been most strongly linked with signing the 24-year-old, who reports believe could be sold for €90m (£78m).
How Rodrygo compares to Estevao
Now, could he end up in West London, rather than the north side of the capital? Well, the Blues surely wouldn’t complain if that was the case.
Chelsea do have plenty of wide-attacking options on their books, but the quality of Rodrygo could make him the best of the lot
Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, Jamie Gittens, Kendry Páez, Estêvão Willian, Raheem Sterling, João Félix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Tyrique George and Omari Kellyman, we could go on, could all be deployed there, but the Brazilian is simply sensational and would make for an upgrade on all of them, perhaps besides Palmer.
Indeed, teammate Jude Bellingham believes the Brazilian to be the “most gifted player” in Real Madrid’s squad while Luka Modric has already said that he is a “superstar”.
Praised for his ‘versatility’ and willingness ‘to be selfless for the team’ by Mario Cortegana of the Athletic, despite his outstanding performances for Real Madrid, the best is surely yet to come.
Coincidentally, Rodrygo arrived in the Spanish capital from Santos, the club of Pelé and Neymar, in 2019, so let’s see how his time in the Brasileirão compares to that of Estêvão, as well as his exploits in Madrid since.
Games
80
270
83
Minss
5,363
16,152
5,611
Goals
17
68
27
Assists
8
51
15
Brazil caps
0
33
5
As the table outlines, while Estêvão’s statistics in Brazil are slightly more impressive than those of Rodrygo, the latter has very much since proven himself at an elite level in Europe.
He’s won an enormous 13 major honours, including the Champions League twice, while scoring 19 goals for Madrid during the 2022/23 campaign.
So, while Estêvão could be a superstar, there is certainly an element of the unknown; he could be the new Luis Guilherme, Anderson or Kleberson. Unlike Rodrygo, he’s not yet proven himself in the big leagues either.
Thus, if Chelsea want to get back to winning the Premier League and Champions League, which is their stated objective, then Rodrygo would all but guarantee taking them to the next level.
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