Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Chelsea were never going to be flawless under Xabi Alonso this season, but the improvements made since the Spaniard took the reins this summer are inarguable. This is a potential superteam in their infancy.

Sure, Chelsea are worrying in defence. They ship goals by the bucketload, but Alonso's intervention led to a more positive transfer window, and further tweaks in 2027 could help shore up that backline.

In attack, of course, Chelsea are irresistable. Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Pedro Neto. They have been immense, but the Blues need to make more room for the young Estevao Willian, who took his chance to impress as the west Londoners defeated Manchester United last weekend.

Why Estevao needs more chances at Chelsea

About time Estevao was handed the chance to shine under Alonso's wing. The Brazilian winger's fringe role has frustrated the Stamford Bridge persuasion, for sure, but none have been more annoyed than Estevao himself, who certainly played like a winger with a point to prove.

How did the 19-year-old not score against the beleaguered Red Devils? He played like a footballer with hot coals in their boots, uncontainable and desperate to break his seasonal duck. Goal or not, Estevao was immense, putting paid to the notion that he lacks the requisite physicality to thrive in the Premier League.

Neto is an established Premier League attacker, but Estevao is box office. He brings a different edge to the game, and has the ability to be a difference-maker in the biggest moments, on the biggest stages. Look at how he dismantled Barcelona in the Champions League last season, for example; how he cavorted around Man United's dusty defenders last weekend.

With winged feet and the kind of tenacity and hunger when in the danger area that is reserved only for those chasing superstardom, Estevao has a big part to play for Chelsea this season, but he's not the only one.

Indeed, Alonso has another version of Estevao who's desperate for a greater role. Perhaps unleashing him against Sunderland on Sunday could echo the Estevao effect we saw last Saturday.

Alonso must unleash Chelsea's new Estevao

Estevao is the future, but he certainly has a part to play in the present. However, he's not the only one, with Chelsea having recently welcomed another version of the Brazil international to London.

In March 2025, Chelsea announced they had signed Geovany Quenda from Sporting CP for about £44m. A fantastic signing for one of the brightest talents in Portugal, but it would not be for another year until the speedy winger would arrive at Stamford Bridge.

He left Sporting having scored nine goals and supplied 17 assists across 86 senior appearances, and it earned him a swift place in Alonso's senior plans, though Estevao's recent success has perhaps suggested to the manager that he too should earn a bigger part over the coming months.

Chelsea content creator Alex Goldberg has noted that Quenda's mental fortitude is one of his standout attributes. In that, he is "just like Estevao", and it could see him grow into a mainstay in Chelsea's starting line-up. For Sporting, he dazzled, and the expectation is that he will sharpen his tools when in the final third and grow into an Estevao rival in the Premier League.

The Portugal U21 star will need to start playing more often, though. Five times he has featured in the Premier League, and only once from the start, during that hollow defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. Even so, he was hardly to blame, working tirelessly, winning four duels and making three defensive contributions.

Quenda, already, has played prominently across both wings. He has a knack for scoring goals and creating assists, regardless of his placement on the pitch.

It's understandable that Alonso is easing him into the limelight. Last year, with Sporting in Liga Portugal, the teenager only started seven games, albeit posting two goals and five assists.

Quenda needs to start playing with more regularity, packing the same kind of electric and direct punch which has already established Estevao as one of the most exciting prospects in England.