Palmeiras striker reached 18 goal appearances in Série A 2024

After Palmeiras’ 5-3 victory over Juventude this Sunday, the São Paulo team moved closer to Botafogo in the fight for the Brazilian title. The duel was also important for Estêvão’s individual brand. In his 24th match in this Brasileirão, he surpassed Neymar’s scores in 2009, when the former Santos played in the competition for the first time. The Alviverde striker received praise from his compatriot after the feat.

Estêvão reached his 10th goal and eighth assist in this edition of the Brasileirão. In 2009, the year he debuted for Santos, Neymar had 16 goal contributions. “Congratulations, Estêvão, on the broken record! May you continue to shine and enchant everyone with your football. Fly”, wrote Neymar, who was selected by Jorge Jesus this Monday for Al-Hilal’s match in the Asian Champions League , for the first time in a year.

This season, Estêvão has already scored ten times and provided eight assists in the Brasileirão. In total, there are 18 goal participations scored by Palmeiras in just 24 clashes – an average of 0.75 goal participation per game. In comparison, Neymar, when he debuted with the black and white shirt in 2009, scored 10 goals and six assists, the same number of appearances as the Palmeiras striker, but in 33 matches – an average of 0.48 per game.

Technically, Estêvão plays his second Brasileirão wearing the black and white shirt. In the last match of last year, the striker entered the field against Cruzeiro, in a game that secured Palmeiras’ 12th Brazilian title. Considering this match, the striker’s average drops to 0.72 goal participation per game. After scoring this Sunday, Estêvão imitated Neymar’s celebration, paying tribute to the striker.

Estêvão can still improve the brand. Until the end of the Brasileirão, Palmeiras will play eight more games, in the fight for the title against Botafogo. Nacional’s final stretch, 15 years ago, was precisely what boosted Neymar’s numbers: the Santos striker scored six goals in the final five rounds, against Náutico, Internacional, Coritiba and Cruzeiro – he only missed out against Avaí.

“Tell me about Estêvão, I’m not going to say what I think, I’m going to ask Leila not to sell this player. His father, his manager and he will be sad. Let him stay with us until 2027. I really think this player is different from anything else I’ve ever seen. A boy who defends, attacks, shows himself in the game”, said Abel Ferreira, in May this year. Estêvão, however, already had his sale negotiated with Chelsea, still at the age of 17. He will leave the team in 2025, after the Club World Cup in the United States.

The total operation was closed at 61.5 million euros (R$358 million), above the value of the termination fine, which was 45 million euros (R$262 million), agreed when the player signed his first professional contract, in April 2023. Palmeiras already has 45 million euros guaranteed and can receive another 16.5 million euros (R$96 million) in goals. The club keeps 70% of the value, the rest goes to the athlete and his family.

In addition to Neymar, Estêvão could surpass the number of goals that Endrick had in the 2023 Brasileirão. The striker, who currently plays for Real Madrid, scored 11 goals in last season’s edition and was crucial in the momentum that Palmeiras had in the final stretch, surpassing Botafogo in the title race. When he was sold to Real Madrid, Endrick’s negotiation had values ​​close to those of Estêvão.