Estevao might have been the only Chelsea stakeholder secretly pleased to see Cole Palmer shown a second yellow card in their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday. And he still can’t get a game.

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 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.

The Brazilian was hooked at half-time with the Blues 1-0 down against Leeds before the cavalry arrived and they ran out 6-3 winners, but he was fully expected to be back in the starting lineup for the trip to Liverpool on Wednesday following Palmer’s one-game suspension. Many Chelsea fans will have wanted to see him in the XI whether Palmer was available or not.

With him again watching from the bench from the start on Wednesday the social media conspiracy theorists are suggesting there must be some deeper, more personal reason for his lack of action. And 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 odd.

And the Liverpool snub won’t have improved the mood of a player who our friends at TEAMtalk reported over the weekend is ‘growing increasingly frustrated’ with his situation under Alonso and is ‘shocked’ by his lack of minutes.

Estevao – valued at £67m by Transfermarkt – is ‘increasingly concerned’ about his game time, especially after fellow 19-year-old Geovany Quenda started ahead of him against Tottenham.

The report stated: ‘Sources indicate that the turn of the year could prove an important point in assessing his future.

‘If his involvement has not improved by then, Estevao’s situation is likely to require further discussion, with the player keen to see a clearer pathway towards regular first-team football.’

Estevao and his camp will ‘revisit’ his situation in January if he is still warming the bench in most matches and his snub at Anfield is only going to strengthen their resolve to push for an exit.

Their view will be that although Chelsea say they ‘remain committed to his long-term development and believe he can become an important player in the years ahead’, they’ve got a funny way of showing it.

They won’t be short of suitors interested in a player some believe will be a future Ballon d’Or winner, and a report earlier this week claimed Paris Saint-Germain could make a move for the teenager as they look for a short-term replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who’s suffered a season-ending ACL injury.

It’s claimed Chelsea ‘would let Estêvão Willian join PSG on loan in the winter window, with conditions attached.’

Firstly, they want any loan to be a straight loan, with no option or obligation to buy attached.

Secondly, Chelsea will reportedly demand PSG cover 100 percent of the winger’s wages.

Thirdly, Chelsea will insist on some form of guarantee over playing time as a loan would make little sense if Estevao swaps one bench for another.

That guarantee feels very unlikely as even without Kvaratskhelia, PSG boss Luis Enrique can still call upon Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Maghnes Akliouche, Mika Godts, Quentin Ndjantou and Ferran Torres as forward options.

In any case, 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 arguably the most talented footballer they’ve signed since Eden Hazard arrived in 2012.