Xabi Alonso admits that Estevao “could be happier” after he was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool before again vowing that the teenager is “going to play his role” in a “long season” for the Blues. But fans will have their doubts on the basis of a nine-word explanation for snubbing him on Wednesday.

The hugely talented 19-year-old, who was tipped for the very top when he arrived at Chelsea and showed quality in spades in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, has featured for just 47 minutes across six appearances in the Premier League this season, with Cole Palmer, along with Joao Pedro and Morgan Rogers, firmly blocking his path to the first team.

Estevao’s only two starts of the campaign have come against Luton and Leeds in the Carabao Cup, and he – like the rest of us – will have assumed his third of the campaign would arrive against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday, particularly after Palmer was sent off for two bookable offences against Tottenham.

Not only did he not start the game, he was left on the bench by Alonso to support the hypotheses of the social media conspiracy theorists suggesting there must be some deeper, more personal reason for his lack of action. It’s not hard to understand why the tin-foil hats have been donned – a player of that ability being given such scant opportunity is very strange.

“I understand his situation and that he could be happier for sure,” Alonso said when asked about Estevao’s lack of action. “Every player wants to play, wants to be part of the team.

“We have had some intense games and there will be moments for everything. I’m sure that Este will have his moment. It’s my responsibility and we need to deal with that.”

Chelsea fans could be heard chanting “Steve-o, Steve-o, Steve-o” in the away end as Estevao warmed up, to which Alonso simply confirmed “the fans were saying a lot of things” before reiterating how “intense” the game was and then delivering the nine-word line which should be of great concern to those of us hoping to see more of Estevao.

“We knew that it was going to be physical,” Alonso added.

Yikes, aren’t all games physical against Premier League teams? Without European football those are pretty much the only teams Chelsea are going to playing this season, other than maybe some weak-willed lower-tier pushovers in the FA Cup.

If Alonso is waiting for an opportunity for his young winger to play against a less physical left-back than Kostas Tsimikas then he’s going to be waiting a while. Given this was also a rare occasion in which Chelsea played 4-3-3 rather than with wing-backs, this really did seem like a perfect chance to unleash Estevao.

He came off the bench in the Premier League to score a stoppage-time winner against Liverpool last season. So what’s changed? Other than him putting on about 5kg in mass in a bid to cope with the English physicality, not much aside from the manager.

Amid reports of his representatives’ ‘increasing concern’ over his lack of game time and thoughts of a January exit if Estevao’s situation hasn’t improved by then, Chelsea fans will be worried.

There’s a use him or lose him feeling in the air at Stamford Bridge, and Alonso is doing nothing to placate Chelsea fans concerned that they may be about to squander probably the most talented footballer they’ve had the pleasure of watching since Eden Hazard.