Will Chelsea be crowned champions of the world this week?

Last Friday night, the Blues beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in Philly.

Enzo Maresca's take on another Brazilian side Fluminense in Tuesday's semi-final at MetLife Stadium, firm favourites to reach the final, where Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid await in East Rutherford on Sunday.

Estêvão Willian captured many of the headlines at the weekend, scoring for the Verdão against his future employers, but could Chelsea now sign an even bigger Brazilian talent?

Chelsea looking at £78m superstar after Gittens move

Already this summer, including pre-agreed deals, Chelsea have signed eight players, costing in excess of £222m.

Straight off his sunbed, João Pedro made his debut as a substitute against Palmeiras in Pennsylvania, while Jamie Gittens' debut will have to wait, ineligible to feature, having played 13 minutes for Borussia Dortmund earlier in the tournament.

Oliver Kay of the Athletic outlines how the Blues are 'stockpiling' young talent, forecasting that they're not likely to stop any time soon.

Well, supporting this assertion is the fact that, as reported by Graeme Bailey of TBR Football, Chelsea have been in talks with the representatives of Brazilian Rodrygo from Real Madrid.

The Blues are not the only side to have held initial contacts with Manchester City, Liverpool, PSG and Bayern kept abreast of the situation.

The winger has been linked with a move away from los Blancos this summer, having seen a miserly 27 minutes on the field across their last four Club World Cup fixtures, an unused substitute against both Pachuca and Juventus.

Arsenal have been most strongly linked with signing the 24-year-old, who reports believe could be sold for €90m (£78m).

How Rodrygo compares to Estevao

Now, could he end up in West London, rather than the north side of the capital? Well, the Blues surely wouldn't complain if that was the case.

Chelsea do have plenty of wide-attacking options on their books, but the quality of Rodrygo could make him the best of the lot

Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, Jamie Gittens, Kendry Páez, Estêvão Willian, Raheem Sterling, João Félix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Tyrique George and Omari Kellyman, we could go on, could all be deployed there, but the Brazilian is simply sensational and would make for an upgrade on all of them, perhaps besides Palmer.

Indeed, teammate Jude Bellingham believes the Brazilian to be the "most gifted player" in Real Madrid's squad while Luka Modric has already said that he is a "superstar".

Praised for his 'versatility' and willingness 'to be selfless for the team' by Mario Cortegana of the Athletic, despite his outstanding performances for Real Madrid, the best is surely yet to come.

Coincidentally, Rodrygo arrived in the Spanish capital from Santos, the club of Pelé and Neymar, in 2019, so let's see how his time in the Brasileirão compares to that of Estêvão, as well as his exploits in Madrid since.

As the table outlines, while Estêvão's statistics in Brazil are slightly more impressive than those of Rodrygo, the latter has very much since proven himself at an elite level in Europe.

He's won an enormous 13 major honours, including the Champions League twice, while scoring 19 goals for Madrid during the 2022/23 campaign.

So, while Estêvão could be a superstar, there is certainly an element of the unknown; he could be the new Luis Guilherme, Anderson or Kleberson. Unlike Rodrygo, he's not yet proven himself in the big leagues either.

Thus, if Chelsea want to get back to winning the Premier League and Champions League, which is their stated objective, then Rodrygo would all but guarantee taking them to the next level.