Chelsea’s star has issued a strong warning to both teammates and fans, making it clear he doesn’t want to be compared to Lionel Messi. Instead, he revealed that Neymar Jr. has always been his biggest inspiration since childhood.
Chelsea’s star has issued a strong warning to both teammates and fans, making it clear he doesn’t want to be compared to Lionel Messi. Instead, he revealed that Neymar Jr. has always been his biggest inspiration since childhood.
London, October 8, 2025 – Estêvão Willian, the 18-year-old Brazilian sensation whose stoppage-time strike clinched Chelsea’s dramatic 2-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge last weekend, has delivered a impassioned message to his teammates, coaches, and the club’s fervent supporters. In a candid interview with Globo Esporte ahead of Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers, the £50 million Palmeiras graduate implored those around him to cease the relentless comparisons to Lionel Messi – a moniker that’s shadowed him since his youth academy days – and instead celebrate his lifelong admiration for Neymar Jr. “I love Leo, but please, no more ‘Messinho.’ It’s a burden I didn’t ask for. You just want to play football, do what you love,” Estêvão said, his voice firm yet respectful. “Neymar’s been my idol since I was a kid in Fortaleza. He’s the one who showed me how to dream big. Let’s honor that, not chase shadows.”
The outburst, timed perfectly amid Chelsea’s surging form under Enzo Maresca – now fourth in the table after the Liverpool scalp – underscores the pressures on a teenager thrust into the Premier League’s cauldron. Dubbed “Messinho” (Little Messi) at Cruzeiro for his low center of gravity, explosive dribbling, and penchant for slaloming defenders, Estêvão has endured the label like a double-edged sword. It propelled his meteoric rise: at 12, he became the youngest Brazilian to ink a Nike deal, eclipsing even Neymar and Rodrygo. Scouts salivated, with Palmeiras snapping him up for a record youth fee in 2020. By 17, he’d shattered Neymar’s Serie A record for goal involvements in a season (19 goals, 12 assists), earning the “best talent since Ney” tag from Brazil’s football cognoscenti. Chelsea, in their youth-obsessed rebuild, pounced last summer, viewing him as the crown jewel of a £200 million Brazilian influx alongside Kendry Páez.
Yet, the Messi parallels – both left-footed maestros with a flair for the impossible – have grated. “Sometimes a nickname like that becomes a burden,” Estêvão elaborated, echoing sentiments from his FourFourTwo profile earlier this year. “I get it – the dribbles, the vision – but I’m not him. I’m Estêvão. My first Nike memory? Neymar. I only knew the brand because of him. He was the wizard on TV, turning games into art. Childhood posters? All Ney. Messi’s magic, sure, but Neymar’s fire lit mine.” The distinction is poignant: while Messi’s cerebral genius inspires awe, Neymar’s audacious street-ball style – somersault celebrations, rainbow flicks, and unapologetic joy – resonates with Brazil’s favelas-born talents. Estêvão, from a modest Fortaleza family, credits Neymar for teaching resilience: “He faced the world’s eyes young, like me now. Injuries, criticism – he bounces back. That’s my blueprint.”
