Estêvão, Santos, Delap, Essugo, Sarr: Meet Chelsea's newcomers at the CWC

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With the first transfer window of the post-season now shut and Chelsea’s core CWC squad set in stone, all attentions now turns to the new names making their way to the US to kick off their careers in Blue. This newsletter is a little introduction to what you can expect from the newcomers in the upcoming Club World Cup.

Estêvão

It could very well be the case that the best of Chelsea’s newcomers won’t be playing for the Blues at CWC. Estêvão’s exploits in Brazil have been nothing short of sensational – 31 G/A in 50 games in all competitions at the age of 17, eclipsing Neymar to become the U17 player with the most goal contributions this century. Estêvão’s ingenuity and brilliance is hard to encapsulate in words, and the fervor that follows every magical flick is easy to understand.

Since winning their first world cup, the longest Brazil have gone without winning the holy grail was 24 years, between 1970 to 1994. By the time Brazil arrive for the 2026 World Cup, another 24 years would have elapsed. The era after Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and other titans has been one riddled with an identity crisis – Neymar’s individual wizardry becoming rarer and rarer in a world obsessed with tactics prioritizing collective industry over all. Estêvão’s emergence, along with the presence of the established individual brilliance of Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo and Raphinha takes a wistful Brazilian public as close to joga bonito as they’ve been for a long time. A three-way winger with exhilarating footwork, flair that sees him samba his way out of challenges and a goal threat that continues to get better with age - no pressure, kid. At the Club World Cup, Estêvão will wear Palmeiras’ green & gold as a key player, an important experience at a tournament of such magnitude, before he arrives at the Bridge in blue.

Andrey Santos

Another Brazilian superstar in the making, Santos has excelled in a manner quite different to Estêvão’s. At 17, Andrey was barking orders to teammates two decades older than him, taking the sole responsibility of running the midfield for Vasco in the Brazilian 2^nd division. That Andrey was a born leader was never under any doubt. In 2023, he captained Brazil to the South American U20 Championship, top-scoring with 6 goals from central midfield. A botched loan to Nottingham Forest offered the first proper hurdle in his career, and Andrey responded by going on loan to Strasbourg, picking up the captaincy and distinguishing himself as one of the best midfielders in Europe.

Andrey’s addition to the Chelsea squad is crucial – he combines Lavia’s supremacy in the first phase with a clean injury record and has the fundamentals to hit 10-15 G/A comfortably when playing consistently. A South American engine room consisting of Enzo, Caicedo and Santos is a dream trio – offering steel, leadership, goals and balance.

Dario Essugo

When the final whistle of the Sporting-Vitòria game was blown on the 21^st of March, 2021, Dario Essugo broken down in copious tears. 6 days after his 16^th birthday, he had become the youngest Sporting player to feature in the Portuguese Liga. What made it more astounding was that he had never played for the junior or reserve sides; he hopped straight from the U16s to his senior debut. One by one teammates came to embrace the young teen, his captain Luis Neto, kissed his forehead; Essugo was 2 when Neto made his senior debut for Varzim.

Essugo would go on to set a few more records for Sporting, but as is the case for most wonderkids, pressure and destiny can prove cruel. With Sporting blessed with midfield riches, Essugo was sent on two loans – to Chaves in the Portuguese Liga, and then Las Palmas. He was relegated both times. It was a harsh lesson for a player hailed as Portugal’s next midfield gem, but his promising displays in the engine room in a struggling Las Palmas side turned heads across Europe.

While the Blues have spent millions assembling a midfield with technical elegance, 20-year-old Essugo is the side’s first and only pure destroyer profile. Essugo is a physical specimen – sturdy, robust and surprisingly agile and quick across the ground over short and long distances. There is splendid defensive industry and acumen to add to it too. Essugo adds a profile Chelsea have been sorely missing – one to add depth to the invaluable Moises Caicedo, a midfielder who is happy to indulge in the dark arts and allow the on-ball wizards to do their thing. Will he complement Andrey Santos/Romeo Lavia in the double pivot? Will he form the base of a new 3-man midfield and elevate Caicedo to his B2B role? Or will he be the new inverted RB in games to accommodate Maresca’s midfield trio? There are many questions to be answered, but it would be no surprise to anyone if Essugo made a strong impression on Chelsea fans in the CWC group stages.

Liam Delap

I dedicated an entire dispatch to our new #9 which you can read here, but there is palpable excitement at having a pure CF at the Bridge again. Delap, like Essugo, shone in thoroughly testing conditions at Ipswich – a two-footed bully who repeatedly showed that he could go shoulder-to-shoulder with the PL’s hardest CBs and make a sizable dent too. How well he fares for a possession-heavy side desperate for incisive finishing and box poaching remains to be seen, but there is hope that the Chelsea hierarchy, who are intimately familiar with Delap as a player and as a human being, know how to bring the best out of him.

Mamadou Sarr

I came to Strasbourg for Andrey Santos, but left with Emegha, Bakwa, Diarra and a bit of Mamadou Sarr. Son of former Senegal international Pape Sarr, he joined his dad’s former side Lens at the age of 7, stayed for six and then moved to Lyon, where he’d float around for six years, making only two senior appearances. Last season, Strasbourg came calling after a promising loan at Molenbeek in Belgium, and Sarr impressed in Liam Rosenior’s back 3. Sarr is right-footed and played across the back 3; that versatility could be the reason he finds himself in the CWC as emergency cover for both the left and right CBs.

Standing at 6’4, Sarr caught the eye with his deceptively quick ground speed, lovely passes punched between lines and a physical profile that exuded enough confidence to say that the PL wouldn’t overwhelm. If you’d like a detailed read on Sarr from someone far more established in the game, Seb’s breakdown would be my go-to piece here.

 CWC UPDATE!

Friends! - if you’re planning to attend the Club World Cup, we’d love to see you for London Is Blue LIVE, presented by Michelob Ultra. That’s right, we have 3 Club World Cup events coming your way. 

- New York City, June 14th at 4 pm. We’re kicking off the CWC with a Chelsea party at Legends Bar with the legendary New York Blues. Register here -https://www.eventbrite.com/e/london-is-blue-live-legends-in-nyc-presented-by-michelob-ultra-tickets-1389878226189?aff=oddtdtcreator

- Atlanta, June 16th (pre and post match) - stop by STATS (close to the Mercedes Benz Area) for some Chelsea festivities. No registration, just vibes. 

- Philadelphia, June 19th at 7 pm - London Is Blue Live Podcast with the Philly Blues. Stop by for an amazing night before party, no registration required. 

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