'Special football brain' and 'scary ability' - Liam Rosenior lifts lid on Chelsea's Brazilian talent factory of Joao Pedro, Estevao and Andrey Santos
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/05/02/image-dfe2a7b1-16b3-40a7-aa20-5e002e65941a-68-310-310.jpeg)
Updated 10/03/2026 at 12:33 GMT
React to this story
Chelsea's Brazilian contingent of Joao Pedro, Estevao and Andrey Santos are providing plenty of joy in the present and hope for the future at Stamford Bridge. Blues head coach Liam Rosenior spoke to TNT Sports about the talented trio, hailing Estevao's "scary ability," the "special football brain" of Santos, and "unbelievable" top scorer Pedro, who has hit prolific form under the new boss.
Rosenior: 'Scary' Estevao is 'so humble'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has opened up on the "scary ability" of Estevao and the growing influence of his fellow Brazilian Blues, Andrey Santos and Joao Pedro.
The trio have been key figures for Rosenior since he succeeded Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge in January.
Chelsea’s 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa took The Blues within three points of the top four in the Premier League, with Pedro netting a superb hat-trick at Villa Park, while a win over Wrexham - in which Pedro scored again - saw Chelsea progress to the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals.
The former Strasbourg boss also helped seal a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, where The Blues will face reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, with the first leg live on Wednesday night on TNT Sports 2 and discovery+.
However, one of the things exciting Rosenior the most is the potential of his young squad and particularly the Brazilian trio of Estevao, Santos and Pedro.
Speaking to Owen Hargreaves for The Breakdown on TNT Sports, Rosenior was left in awe watching a clip of an 18-year-old Estevao scoring a spectacular solo goal against Barcelona in the Champions League in November.
"He is scary," Rosenior said. "He’s not doing that against a pub team, he’s doing that against Barcelona at 18."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/11/25/image-ed0729f0-11e8-4603-832b-6157a49ae96d-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'A shining star'- Estevao grabs a 'magnificent' second for Chelsea in Barca rout
Video credit: TNT Sports
Rosenior added: "He has [got something special]. That is why I’m enjoying it so much, working with these players every day.
"What I would say about him, why he is going to improve so much, is he is so humble.
"He loves coming in, he just wants to get better and works really hard. It’s scary the ability he has."
'Special' Santos will have 'incredible career'
Estevao’s compatriot Santos was already familiar to Rosenior, with the pair having worked together during their spell in Ligue 1.
"He is special. I worked with him at Strasbourg. He’s 21 years old but his football brain is special," Rosenior said of the 21-year-old.
"He’s going to have an incredible career, like a lot of these lads will go on to have."
Former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Hargreaves described a Santos no-look pass as "my favourite pass this season," and Rosenior was equally impressed.
"That disguise is crazy," he said. "I don’t think he will be happy with his facial expression in that moment!
"He is gifted. I’m very lucky that I have a really gifted young group and we want to achieve special things.
"But the level of detail where these players from all over the world pick up these skills is incredible."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/03/10/image-c2d3927a-5fa3-4911-8a6b-1e8b66a64105-85-2560-1440.png)
Rosenior reveals unusual 'biggest difference' between being manager vs an assistant
Video credit: TNT Sports
How 'unbelievable' Pedro has transformed under Rosenior
Pedro has been one of the stars of the season for Chelsea, leading the club’s scoring charts with 18 goals in all competitions.
The 24-year-old, who joined from Brighton & Hove Albion last summer, has shown a notable upturn in form since Rosenior’s arrival.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/03/04/image-54e186b8-76e6-4bb3-9898-9c48436798e4-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'Warrior' Pedro is 'scary' and can get even better, says Rosenior
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pedro’s hat-trick against Villa continued a prolific run of form under the manager, taking his tally to 11 goals and five assists in eight Premier League matches since the managerial change, having mustered six goals and three assists in 21 games under Maresca.
Under Rosenior, Pedro’s average number of shots inside the box per game has gone up from 1.6 to 3.3, while his touches in the opposition box have increased from 4.7 to 6.2.
"I think Joao is now in areas where he is in a position to score goals. That’s been a brilliant adaptation for him, and it needs to continue. He’s unbelievable," said Rosenior.
"It’s not just me. He has an appreciation of the players around him. If he’s a striker, he wants Cole Palmer to find him, or Enzo [Fernandez], or Moises [Caicedo], or a cross – he scored a great goal from a Pedro Neto cross against Burnley.
"He needs to be in a position to score goals and he’s done it great so far."
Rosenior added: "His physicality, he’s so quick, it’s really hard to catch up with him once he gets in behind. He’s been outstanding, I’ve loved working with him so far."
Stream the Premier League, Men’s and Women’s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more on TNT Sports and discovery+
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement