‘My second-biggest dream’ – Brazil wonderkid Estevao targeting Ballon d’Or after joining Chelsea

And the latest Brazilian wonderkid has outlined his intention to compete for the Ballon d’Or in the coming years.

Estevao is viewed as one of the next generation of elite talents, along with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Argentine teenager Franco Mastantuono, who is set to join Real Madrid from River Plate.

“He is another great player who has been growing a lot,” Estevao said of Mastantuono. “I’ve also been following his matches because he’s been playing in South America. He’s got incredible potential.”

Asked if there could be a three-way battle for the Ballon d’Or between the aforementioned players, Estevao added: “I sincerely hope so. The three of us are the same age. It would be incredible and very interesting to find ourselves in that situation.”

Estevao also praised Yamal, who has emerged as a true star for Barcelona and Spain over the last year.

“He’s a fantastic young man, a great player who had an incredible season,” he said. “I followed him closely during the Champions League, I was really cheering for him and Raphinha, especially.”

“I’m happy because we won and also happy because Estevao scored, the perfect night,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said.

“He is very good, a huge talent, fantastic player. The only thing is when you come from South America or another part of the world, you need to adapt.

“We are going to help him to adapt. We have no doubt he will be an important player for Chelsea.”

Cole Palmer was equally effusive about his future team-mate, despite some communication problems.

“You can see he is a top player, so it is very exciting,” Palmer said.

“I just said to him we are excited for him to join – but he didn’t understand a single word I said.”