Farewell to Brazil and love in England: see how Estêvão’s 2025 went.

The striker said goodbye to Palmeiras and became one of the darlings of the Chelsea fans in 2025.

At the beginning of 2025, there were many doubts regarding Estêvão, who would spend his last six months wearing the Palmeiras jersey before moving to European football after being sold to Chelsea for 45 million euros in 2024. The main questions were whether the young player would maintain the level of performance he showed in Brazil in Europe, whether he would be loaned out by the English team, and whether he would have regular appearances for the Brazilian National Team. The answer came on the field, as he became one of the key players for one of the biggest clubs in the world and the top scorer of the “Ancelotti Era”. Below,  100percentsurewins!  looks back at the Brazilian’s year.

Estêvão played in 14 of Palmeiras’ 16 games in the Campeonato Paulista, starting in 11. With five goals, including two in the quarter-final against São Bernardo, the youngster helped Palmeiras reach the tournament final against Corinthians. However, Palmeiras lost 1-0 on aggregate and finished as runners-up.

Next came the Brasileirão, in which Estêvão played in all the games, starting nine of them. Without scoring any goals, he contributed three assists. His farewell to the Palmeiras fans was against Sporting Cristal in the Libertadores Cup, where he scored a goal and provided an assist in Palmeiras’ 6-0 victory. In the continental competition, he scored three more times.

Estêvão’s last competition wearing the Palmeiras jersey was the Club World Cup in the United States. A starter in all matches, the young striker scored only one goal, precisely against Chelsea in the quarterfinals. Impressing his future club with a great performance was important, mainly to attract the attention of his future teammates, coaches, and fans. At the end of the game, with the English team winning 2-1, he interacted with Cole Palmer, Chelsea’s star player, as well as Brazilians João Pedro and Andrey Santos.

Estêvão left Palmeiras after 83 games, 27 goals and 15 assists. In 2025 alone, he played 37 games, scored 12 goals and provided five assists. In terms of titles, the striker won the Brasileirão (2023) and the Campeonato Paulista (2024).

Estêvão arrived at Chelsea facing competition from players such as Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens, and even Cole Palmer. However, during pre-season, he won over the fans by scoring against Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge, and ruled out any possibility of being loaned to Strasbourg, Chelsea’s satellite club.

In the Premier League, during a match against West Ham in the second round, he provided an assist and was named man of the match. Even without being a regular starter under Enzo Maresca, Estêvão was a fan favorite, and the fans always praised him on social media.

Estêvão’s first goal in a Chelsea shirt came in an unforgettable moment, in the final moments against Liverpool. After a pass from Cucurella, the Brazilian appeared at the far post to score the winning goal for the Blues and send Stamford Bridge into raptures. Even so, he shared the starting position with Pedro Neto, with Enzo Maresca justifying the youngster’s adaptation process in London.

“We’re helping him adapt to England. Last week he complained about it being too cold. Last week was still October, so imagine what it will be like in December or January. He needs to adapt. He’s happy, he’s doing great, and he’s certainly a talented player for this club,” Maresca stated in an interview in November.

In March, Estêvão was called up by Dorival Junior for the Brazilian National Team’s World Cup qualifying matches against Colombia and Argentina, but did not leave the bench. However, after the hiring of Carlo Ancelotti, he started against Ecuador and Chile, scoring a goal in the second match, and also came on as a substitute against Bolivia.

In the last two FIFA international breaks of 2025, Estêvão was called up once again. In October, he started against South Korea, scoring two goals in a 5-0 victory. In the following match, against Japan, the striker only played 15 minutes, in a 3-2 defeat. In the last two games of the year, he scored a goal in each, in a 2-0 victory over Senegal and in a 1-1 draw against Tunisia. Thus, with five goals, Estêvão is the top scorer for the Brazilian National Team since Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival.

In one of Chelsea’s most anticipated Champions League matches, against Barcelona, ​​Estêvão earned a starting spot. In the game, the Blues defeated Barça 3-0, with a spectacular goal from the Brazilian striker.

With the score at 1-0 for Chelsea, Andrey Santos intercepted Frenkie de Jong’s pass and rolled it to Reece James. The English player then passed to Estêvão, who sped towards Pau Cubarsí. The Brazilian dribbled past the defender and finished with power and precision to score a fantastic goal at Stamford Bridge and make it 2-0.

Watch Estêvão’s amazing goal!

He remained in the starting lineup against Arsenal and Leeds, however, after a poor performance in the second match, the Brazilian returned to the bench, only entering in the second half. Enzo Maresca’s decision was criticized by fans, who would have liked to see the Brazilian continue in the starting lineup.

In Chelsea’s last game of the year, a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, Estêvão returned to the starting lineup. During the match, he won a penalty converted by Cole Palmer and created several dangerous chances. Once again, the striker’s performance was praised by the fans. At the end of 2025, Estêvão finished with 21 games, 5 goals and one assist for Chelsea. In total for the year, he played 65 games, scored 22 goals and provided six assists.