Chelsea’s new signing Estevao Willian is the best Brazilian-born player since Neymar, according to World Cup winner Branco.
Chelsea have already reached an agreement to sign the 17-year-old from Palmeiras, paying €34 million (£28.7m) up front plus a further €23m (£19.4m) in add-ons.
Estevao will not join Chelsea until he turns 18 next year and is set to arrive at Stamford Bridge alongside Ecuador international Kendry Paez, another highly regarded South American talent whose £17.5m move to Chelsea was agreed over 12 months ago.
Estevao has made just 22 senior appearances for Palmeiras but is quickly making an impact in his homeland.
And Branco, who was part of Brazil’s World Cup-winning squad in 1994 and is now the national team’s coordinator for the youth sides, predicts that Estevao could take the World Cup by storm in 2026.
‘It’s been a long time since we’ve had these kids there and Brazil has a spectacular generation,’ Branco told Canal WAMO.
Estevao Willian has been labelled as Brazil’s best player since Neymar (EPA)
‘Brazil for 2026 will arrive very strong, they’ll arrive with strength, speed and quality.
‘Estevao, for me, with all due respect to the others, this is something serious, something that I’ve never said and I’m going to say – since Neymar, he is the greatest player I’ve seen born in Brazil.
‘This is my opinion, you’ve seen him close, you know. This is Brazil, they’re all spectacular but this boy, his ceiling is a bit higher.’
Speaking last month, Palmeiras’ head coach, Abel Ferreira, said he was ‘scared’ that Chelsea would raid the Brazilian club for even more of their young players.
‘For Chelsea, what I’m afraid of is that nobody else will leave, not staff, players, coaches, but nobody. Let them leave us alone. We want temptation to stay away,’ he said.
‘I just hope Chelsea don’t take anyone else. I’m even scared. There’s a lot of good work going on at the academy.
‘Since we arrived here, there hasn’t been a week when four or five players haven’t come to train with us.’