“The only thing for me…” – Enzo Maresca answers questions about how he will help young talent prepare

Friday night was a doubly-exciting night for Chelsea fans.

They got to see their team win in the Club World Cup quarter finals and make it to the semis, just one win against Fluminense away from the final. But they also got to see one of the biggest talents in world football, and certainly one of the biggest talents Chelsea have signed in years, play against them.

Estevao Willian not only played, he scored a superb goal. It was a special – if strange – moment.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had said before this game that he had not spoken to the youngster at all yet, which was slightly surprising. But after the match he had the perfect chance to praise the teenager in his post-match press conference, and he took it.

Maresca hails talent and freedom of young charge

Enzo Maresca on the touchline against Palmeiras. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“Yes. Very good, very good. You can see that he’s a huge talent. You can see that he’s a fantastic player. And the only thing for me is when you come from South America or in general from the other part of the world, Europe, you need to adapt. So, we’re going to help him to adapt,” Maresca responded when asked if the winger was ready for the Premier League’s physicality.

“First of all, [it’s important for him] to be happy, to continue to enjoy football. And we don’t have any doubt because he’s so good that he’s going to be a very important player for Chelsea.”

Estevao already looks more ready to compete than one might expect

In terms of the physicality, we’ve been expecting a long adaptation period for the winger. But if anything we were impressed with that side of his game last night. He showed great strength a couple of times, and also wasn’t afraid to get stuck in.