With Chelsea wunderkind Estêvão's World Cup spot confirmed for Brazil, it goes to show just how valuable the youngster can be for the club.
Up until now, it has certainly been a season of ups and downs for Chelsea. A good way to summarise the rollercoaster of a time it has been would be how Enzo Maresca was named Premier League Manager of the Month for November, and on New Year's Day, he had departed the club.
The Blues are out of the Carabao Cup, and lost to rivals Arsenal in the process but managed to secure a top eight spot in the UEFA Champions League. They are also in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
There have been a number of talking points this season, for better or worse. One point of discussion that fits under the better category is Estêvão, who joined the club from Brazilian side Palmeiras in the summer.
We saw the 18-year old look bright from early on. In his first game for the club, he scored in a pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen, and he registered his first official goal contribution for the club in a 5-1 win away to West Ham United in August.
Then, Estêvão's real "I'm here" moment came in early October. Having come on as a sub 15 minutes earlier, he showed brilliant positional awareness to slide home a Marc Cucurella cross at the back post and score a last minute winner at home to Liverpool. That sort of goal was more satisfying than a 20-yard strike. Having that goalscoring instinct at such a young age will prove to be priceless.
He carried this form into the international break, with two goals for Brazil in a 5-0 win away to South Korea. This continued back at club level, with goals away to Wolves in the EFL Cup, and Qarabag in the Champions League. Then, he scored in both of Brazil's games in the November international break, against Senegal and Tunisia.
The teenager's best moment of the season perhaps came just after that, with a really well taken goal in a 3-0 win at home to Barcelona in the Champions League, after a great run.
Since then, game time has been harder to come by, but he did score and assist in a 3-0 win at Crystal Palace. Nevertheless, despite the game time reducing somewhat, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has seen all he needs to see.
Recently, the Italian manager confirmed that Estêvão is one of 11 players with a guaranteed spot at the World Cup finals, alongside; Alisson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes, Vinicius, Raphinha, Rodrygo, Matheus Cunha and Gabriel Martinelli.
There is a bit of a void on the right-wing too. Although it's true that Rodrygo played under Ancelotti, and is in the aforementioned list, he is not having the easiest season at club level, and is not an out-and-out right-winger, unlike Estevao. So, there is certainly a possibility that the Chelsea winger starts this summer, at least to begin with.
As a sidenote; it feels a little harsh that João Pedro is not on that list, given the season he is having, and one or two of the names mentioned. But alas, we will see.
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