In what must be absolutely devastating news for Chelsea’s teenage wonderkid, reports are suggesting that Estevao will miss the FIFA World Cup this summer
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will take place in exactly one months time, as Mexico host South Africa in Mexico City, a rematch of the famous opening game from the 2010 World Cup.
So, although there are still important games for Chelsea, we are more than at the stage of the season where fans and players alike begin to wince whenever any player goes down with an injury, no matter how big or small it may be.
The likes of Serge Gnabry of Bayern Munich, Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool and Eder Militao of Real Madrid are some of the more high profile names that have already been cruelly ruled out of the tournament.
Well, it looks like we have one more name. Indeed, as according to Brazilian outlet geglobo, Chelsea winger Estevao has not been included in Carlo Ancelotti’s 55 man preliminary squad for the tournament, as he won’t recover in time from a muscle injury in his right thigh.
Very sad news. This tells us that the injury is pretty bad – to not even be named in a 55 man squad is very telling. For example, Jarrad Branthwaite of Everton has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and is yet in Thomas Tuchel’s 55 man England preliminary squad.
Just gutting in every sense. Sure, there will be other World Cups for Estevao, who is still just a teenager, but you got the feeling he would have played a big role for Brazil this summer. He has become a regular under former Chelsea boss Ancelotti, and found the back of the net five times for Brazil during the autumn of last year.
Seeing Estevao and Chelsea team mate Joao Pedro linking up would have been very exciting for fans of the club. In what has been an incredibly difficult time,those two have been two rare shining lights in the face of darkness.
Selfishly, the concern now turns to the Blues. Will the winger be fit again in pre season? If not, you worry about how long it will take him to recover physically. The cynical side of me feels there is more to the injury than we are being told, but we shall wait and see on that front.
Now, just to disclaim, this is not 100% confirmed, but geglobo are a pretty reputable company over in Brazil, so it is not ideal news. We will probably find out for sure in the coming days. The deadline for the final 26 man squads is the 30th May.
