Barcelona increasingly pursues ‘the next Messi’ as their ‘dream’ instead of Chelsea and Man City

Estevao Willian wants to play for Barcelona, even though big English teams like Chelsea and Manchester City are also interested in him. He says that playing for Barcelona is “his dream.”

Primeiro contrato de Messinho com o Palmeiras tem multa rescisória de € 50  milhões | Goal.com Brasil

Lately, it has been hard for Barcelona to make big signings. The big teams in La Liga are having money problems right now, so they haven’t spent much on transfers in the last couple of rounds.

The last big money they spent on a player was last summer, when they bought Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense for a starting fee of around £34 million, though that price could go up a lot more.

Chelsea chief 'flies to Sao Paulo to snap up Brazilian wonderkid Messinho,  16, in transfer that could reach £65million' | The Sun

People think the Brazilian has a huge ceiling, which is shown by the fact that Barcelona signed him even though they knew they had to wait until the winter to get him because of their financial problems. He couldn’t join the team when they agreed to sign him.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have had a lot of success lately by signing young players from Brazil. Real Madrid just signed Endrick, a 17-year-old, and he will join them in the summer.

Conheça Estevão, joia do Palmeiras e da seleção que pode se tornar mais  cara que o amigo Endrick - Fotos - R7 Futebol

According to Fichajes, Barcelona is “determined” to get the 16-year-old star player Estevao, so they’re likely to go that route again with him.

Because of how well he dribbles, the winger has been compared to Lionel Messi, and it looks like he shares that drive. People say that the player really wants to play for Barcelona, which is his dream.

Joia da base, Estêvão é relacionado pelo Palmeiras e pode alcançar marca  histórica - Folha de Dourados - Notícias de Dourados-MS e região

Not long ago, they still wanted him, even though teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain were also interested.

Since players under 18 can’t move to another country, and Estevao is only 16, he won’t be able to join Barcelona if he signs for another year (he’ll turn 18 before the summer transfer window in 2024/25).

Promessa de 14 anos, Estevão Willian marca primeiro gol pelo Palmeiras -  Diário do Verdão

He will be able to get better in Brazil because of that. The winger has only helped out once in five adult games for Palmeiras.

In 19 games for his club’s under-20 team, he has scored six goals and set up three others, which is a huge performance. So, they’ll want him to keep showing that level of skill in adult football, even though his growth could soon make another club more interested in him than them.