It’s clear the pair are comparable, but Yamal is ahead in most – though not all – attacking statistics.
Yamal is more established – having finished second behind Ousmane Dembele in the Ballon d’Or, starred when Spain won Euro 2024 aged 17 and twice won the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world’s best young player.
Having broken on to the scene at 16, Yamal is more experienced – especially at the highest level of European football.
Yamal has 31 goals and 42 assists in 118 matches for Barcelona, plus six goals in 23 games for Spain – becoming his country’s youngest scorer.
By comparison, Estevao has four goals and one assist in 10 matches for Chelsea. He scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 83 games for Palmeiras, and has five goals in 11 caps for Brazil.
In terms of goals per game, Estevao’s 36 goals in 104 matches is a better ratio than Yamal’s.
Delving deeper for this season alone, Estevao has made more appearances (16 compared with 12), but Yamal has clocked up more minutes (978 to 657).
On a per-90 minutes basis, Yamal is level with Estevao for goals but has provided more assists, taken more shots, had more touches in the opposition box, completed more dribbles and created more chances.
However, Estevao has a better shot conversion rate (13.8% compared with 11.3%) and a higher expected goals figure (0.7 to 0.4), while matching Yamal’s 0.3 expected assists score.
There is also a stylistic element: both players are left-footed and operate as inverted wingers on the right flank. Estevao is expected to evolve into a number 10 as his career develops – much like his Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer – while Yamal is likely to remain on the wing.
Estevao has also been heavily compared to his compatriot Neymar, after surpassing the former Barcelona and PSG attacker’s record at Santos to become the first under-18 player to record a combined 20 goals and assists in the Brazilian top flight.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said the Brazil international has a bright future ahead of him.
“Estevao is already playing at a high level,” he said. “He is already starting for Brazil, for sure he is very young, for sure he can do many things better, but we are very happy with him.
“It’s nice for people that love football to watch players like Estevao, like Lamine Yamal, like Pedri, this is the beauty of football, so we are happy that Estevao is with us, and for sure he is going to do well.
“For me personally the most important thing for Estevao is that he has to enjoy football, he has to be happy, he has not to think about being better than this player or the other player, he has just to be better than himself day by day, try to work hard, improve.”
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