Xabi Alonso has shut down the possibility of Estêvão Willian leaving Chelsea on loan in January, insisting the teenage winger remains part of his plans even as his pitch time shrinks. The debate over the Brazilian’s role intensified this week when he sat as an unused substitute in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup exit to Liverpool, who won the tie on penalties at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
“No discussions about that,” Alonso said when asked about a mid-season loan. “It’s no secret that all players want to be on the pitch. When any of them haven’t had enough minutes because of my decision, I have to take the responsibility for that. But everyone has to be ready because in any game they could be important. Este, his training and his attitude has been good.”
The numbers explain the noise. Estêvão has started just twice in 11 appearances in all competitions this season and has played only 47 minutes of Premier League football. That is a sharp reversal for a player who arrived from Palmeiras last year for £51.4m and quickly became a favourite, most memorably with a solo goal against Barcelona. A hamstring injury then ended his hopes of going to the World Cup, and he has struggled to find rhythm since returning. On Thursday he was handed an international recall by Carlo Ancelotti.
Alonso, whose side host Manchester United on Saturday, framed the issue as a broader adaptation rather than a single weakness. “It’s in the adaptation to the competition, the process to learn things with the ball, against the ball, how to be more competitive,” he said. “That’s for all the players who have made that big step to the Premier League. I am part of the process to help him. For sure I understand the moment, I understand his feeling. It’s still early days.”
After the Liverpool defeat, Alonso hinted that physicality played a part in leaving Estêvão on the bench, and he did not use all of his substitutions. He made clear on Friday that the work without the ball is only part of the picture. “With the ball is very important as well. That’s sometimes when to take the right decision, what to do in the next situation. It’s to keep the ball, it’s to find the right pass,” he said. “The demand of the Premier League is higher than other leagues because of the tempo. To be there as a teenager is not easy. That’s why to go through this filter is not for everyone. It takes time. Even then there will be mistakes. Mistakes are part of the learning process.”
Tactically, Alonso has leaned on a 3-4-2-1 with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers operating as No 10s, and he accepted that Estêvão could be used in a central pocket role depending on the opponent. “Depending on the game, the context, he could play more in this pocket position as a No 10,” he said. “But where he has played more in the Premier League has been as a winger. In one-on-one situations he has good moments.”
Chelsea go into the United match with defensive problems. Jorrel Hato has a back issue, while Maxence Lacroix is unavailable until after the international break after sustaining a hamstring injury against Liverpool.