Estevao Willian has revealed he will travel to London next month, when he will meet Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca for the first time.
The 17-year-old Brazilian wonderkid was sold from Palmeiras to the Blues for an initial fee of £28m, but that could rise to over £50m if certain clauses are met
Estevao will not officially begin life as a Chelsea player until next summer, but believes his current manager, Abel Ferreira, has prepared him for life working under Maresca.
“When you have a coach like Abel, you stop being afraid of anyone,” Estevao told Transfermarkt.
“With him, you go through all the stages. Abel is a guy who really pulls our ears. In the day-to-day, he is a European coach with a European profile. I learn a lot from him.”
As tends to be the case, the draw of living in London has helped seal the transfer and Estevao has suggested as much.
The teenager confirmed he is set to meet Maresca when he travels to the UK in December, with plenty of tourist trips also planned.
Estevao said: “Everyone is talking to me about Big Ben. I haven’t done much research yet, but I’ve already found out a few things about it on the internet.
"I’m excited to visit London. Everyone says it’s one of the best cities in the world, that it receives a lot of tourists and everyone praises it. That also influenced my decision to go to Chelsea.
“We’ll go there at the end of the year. They say it’s cold, but we’re prepared.”
Estevao will travel to London after the culmination of the Brazilian league season, which could still end with Palmeiras winning back-to-back titles. They currently sit in second, six points behind Botafogo, in large part due to the 17-year-old’s exploits.
He is both the top scorer and top assist provider in the league, with 12 goals and eight assists to his name so far.
As well as a big move to Europe, Estevao’s form has also seen him called up by the Brazilian national team. He made his debut in September, and is set to wear the famous yellow shirt again in upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay.
