Estevao's hopes of going to this summer's World Cup are over.
The Chelsea winger had been enjoying an impressive debut season in the Premier League following his big money move from Palmeiras last summer.
The 19-year-old has scored eight goals, including three in the Champions League, and registered four assists. He has been incredibly unlucky with injuries though.
The talented teenager had missed 10 games before suffering a hamstring tear against Manchester United last month that brought his season to an abrupt end.
Carlo Ancelotti excludes Estevao from Brazil squad
Calum McFarlane confirmed recently that Estevao will not play for Chelsea again this season, casting his chances of going to the 2026 World Cup in North America into major doubt.
The young forward returned to Brazil recently to continue his rehabilitation and opted against surgery in the hope of recovering in time for the summer tournament. Sadly though, it seems he isn't going to make it.
As a result, according to Globo Esporte, Carlo Ancelotti has been forced to exclude him from Brazil's 55-man preliminary squad before announcing his final 26-man squad for the World Cup. Disastrous news for one of Selecao's brightest talents.
Ancelotti will confirmed his final 26-man squad on May 18 but FIFA protocols say of the 55 players registered for the World Cup, only 26 can be part of the delegation.
And if this wasn't bad enough for Estevao, it gets worse...
Estevao could miss start of next season
Having already missed a large chunk of this season, there was hope Estevao would be able to recover in the off-season before going again next season.
That may not be the case, though. Globo Esporte has also revealed there are concerns the 19-year-old could still be out by the time the 2026-27 season kicks off.
Suggestions Chelsea's wonderkid won't recover in time for their Premier League opener in August is a massive blow, not only to the player, but to the club as a whole.
The Blues would've (hopefully) appointed a new manager by then and Estevao will want to be included in their plans.
Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner and Xabi Alonso are among the top candidates to take charge with the latter viewed as the frontrunner.
Either way, if Estevao is unable to participate in pre-season, whoever the new manager is will find it impossible to count on him and that could force BlueCo into the transfer market in search of a short term replacement.
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