“The season is long” – Xabi Alonso promises wonderkid playing time soon, after unhappiness rumours

Estevao has been linked with moves away from Chelsea already, but Xabi Alonso insists his winger is happy and training well.

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It was always going to happen – when you have a talent as amazing as Estevao and he doesn’t start games, rumours about him wanting to leave are going to bubble up.

It’s happening at Chelsea already, despite the fact that we’re just four games into the season (one of which the Brazilian started). He will start tomorrow too, and continue to come off the bench in league games. We don’t see why he would be upset with that just yet, but Xabi Alonso was still forced to answer questions about rumoured unhappiness.

Estevao unlikely to be unhappy with backup role – for now

Estevao (Photo by Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

“No [he’s not unhappy], Este is ready,” Alonso said in his press conference today.

“He’s training well. The other day, he had a good impact and a good chance. With Este, I count on him 100% because of his potential because he’s so young. The season is going to be long.”

We’re sure frustration will eventually build up if Estevao remains a sub, but it’s only September and he’s still recovering from his horrific hamstring injury suffered in March. This formation has a perfect role for him too, it just happens to be as Cole Palmer’s backup.

In other news…

Chelsea will be without Moises Caicedo tomorrow night thanks to his injury – Alonso gave an update on when we will know more about his midfielder’s issue.

Valentin Barco has a major role to play tomorrow in the game against Leeds. He needs to prove to Alonso that he can be trusted in physical games.