Palmeiras winger Estevao has revealed the strength of Chelsea’s desire to sign him helped convince him to make the move to Stamford Bridge this summer.

Estevao, who rose to prominence with the ‘Messinho’ nickname he is keen to shake, had openly admitted his desire to join Barcelona, but the Spanish side simply did not have the funds to compete with Chelsea, who paid an initial £29m to get a deal done. Add-ons could take the total cost of the transfer over £55m.

Rather than wait for Barcelona to get their finances in order, Estevao listened to approaches from other clubs and was wooed by Chelsea’s project.

“I’ve told you many times that my biggest dream is to bring the World Cup home to Brazil,” he told The Players’ Tribune in a letter penned for his mother and father. “I think this transition to European football will help me grow even more as a player, especially since we’re going to one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

“A lot of people are asking me why we chose Chelsea, but they don’t understand how much Chelsea wanted me, and how much belief they have in my potential. Those people don’t know about the project they presented to us. To a young player, these things matter a lot, and I know we’ve made the right decision to go to London.”

Primarily a right winger, Estevao is expected to take on a new role at Chelsea, with the winger’s agent previously insisting the Blues see their new talent as a central attacking midfielder.

Andre Cury, Estevao’s representative, also revealed Chelsea were the only side to agree with their assessment that the young Brazil international could move into a central role.

Estevao will remain with Palmeiras until the conclusion of the Club World Cup, in which he could end up awkwardly facing his future employers.

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