What Pedro Neto did to Estevao Willian speaks volumes as Chelsea get huge £84m transfer boost

It is difficult to see from the journalist’s view point at the London Stadium, so when Cole Palmer limped off during the warm-up, us reporters were none the wiser.

In that short time during the warm-up, pre-match, you usually use it to get yourselves prepped for the game ahead. But nothing could have prepared us for that. When word came through, a few questions go through your head. "How serious is it?", "who replaces him?", and so on.

Estevao Willian was the man to replace Chelsea's star. Making his full Premier League debut, the 18-year-old was not a direct swap for Palmer; instead he played on the right, Joao Pedro as the No.10 and Pedro Neto shifted to the left.

It seemed an uphill battle on four minutes. Lucas Paqueta scored a beautiful goal, Chelsea had no Palmer - there was some concern. From us, anyway; not the players - crucially.

Joao's that?

There was such division when Joao Pedro signed for Chelsea earlier in the summer. The Brazilian had shown promise at Brighton; promise but he was never spoken about too much as one of the Premier League's best attackers. That could well have been something to do with Brighton - with no disrespect intended - who do not get as much attention as Chelsea.

Some, though, were pleased with the signing, with Joao Pedro costing the Blues £55million (plus a potential £5million in add-ons). Nobody, however, would have predicted what we’ve seen from Chelsea’s new No.20 in his opening seven games for the Blues - including two pre-season fixtures - Joao Pedro has scored six goals. In that respect, he looks among the league's best attackers.

In the majority of those games, the Brazilian has been used as the sole No.9, but on Friday evening, Enzo Maresca went with Liam Delap as the striker and Joao Pedro just behind. One of the numerous reasons Chelsea signed the 23-year-old from Brighton was to do with his versatility across the front line. We saw that for the first time at the London Stadium.

After levelling the game on six minutes with a fine header, Joao Pedro then went onto assist twice - for Neto and Trevoh Chalobah - in a masterful display in east London.

Estewow

Put yourselves in Estevao's shoes: minutes before the game, Maresca calls you over. “Get ready, son, you're in,” the Chelsea head coach says - or something along those lines. Eighteen-years-old, full Premier League debut, playing away from home for the first time in a Chelsea shirt, well that’s no problem. Not at all.

Estevao, for all the excitement over his potential and talent, has such a wise head on his shoulders for someone so young. It was a difficult start as well, with the Brazilian giving away possession - in silly fashion - six minutes in and that led to Paqueta smashing the ball past Robert Sanchez from long range. Silly from Estevao, but equally Sanchez has to take some of the blame with serious question marks over the goalkeeper’s unorthodox technique in that instance.

"We conceded the goal because of him [Estevao], he lost the ball in the build-up, so he needs to make mistakes to learn," Maresca said post-match at the London Stadium. "But overall, the performance was very good."

Many would have hid and shied away, but not Estevao. He kept on demanding the ball and his teammates continued to give him it. They knew it was a silly mistake and not one he would make again.

His role in the third goal was remarkable. He and Delap linked up on the right-hand side with Estevao bursting into the box. He looked as if he could have crossed it but decided to take another touch to make a bit more space and he put it on a plate for Enzo Fernandez.

While a few celebrated with Fernandez, the goal scorer, the likes of Neto and Malo Gusto were keen to congratulate Estevao on his role in the goal. The Chelsea pair ran over to the winger and celebrated with him as they made their way over to Fernandez and the rest of their teammates.

The Brazilian core at Chelsea with Joao Pedro and Estevao - not to forget Andrey Santos, who has looked impressive coming on in the two league games - is looking very promising. Estevao and Joao Pedro, signed for £84million in total (before add-ons) look set to be a huge part of the Blues' attacking line for the foreseeable future.

Calmer about Palmer

Chelsea now wait anxiously to discover the extent of Palmer’s groin injury. While the Blues fared fine without the 22-year-old on Friday, the last thing Maresca will want is his star man being out for an extended period of time. Crucially, though, Chelsea are not ‘Cole Palmer FC’.

One journalist put that to Maresca post-match - asking if the dominant, free-flowing display goes some way in rubbishing such a label. "You know already how I feel, that I don't care about," Maresca said. "You are there to say things and people, in general, they are there to say something.

"The ones that they say that we are just a Cole team, for sure, Cole is our best player, no doubt. For sure, when we have Cole, we are a much, much, much better team.

"But I think we already showed last year, in two or three months, where Cole, unfortunately for us, was not 100%. When we achieved top four, that no-one expected. And the most important thing, no-one asked me in the first season to finish top four in the Champions League. They asked me in two years in the Champions League."

Chelsea are still expected to sign Xavi Simons despite negotiations dragging on longer than many of us expected. The Blues have continued talks with RB Leipzig this week, with the player already having a broad agreement on personal terms with the west Londoners.

We await to see when/if a fee can be agreed for the 22-year-old Netherlands international, but if Palmer is out for a significant period then the signing of Simons becomes even more crucial.