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Thierry Henry believes teenage star Estevao is destined for greatness, comparing the Chelsea youngster to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and Arsenal talisman Bukayo Saka.
Estevao lit up Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night with a stunning solo goal, flying past two Barcelona defenders before firing high into the roof of the net as the Blues ran out 3-0 winners.
In a game which was primed as a battle between Estevao and the far more established teenage prodigy in Lamine Yamal, the Brazilian cleared his so-called rival on a special night in west London.
And Henry believes Estevao announced himself under the light at the Bridge, and hopes the young winger will be allowed to continue expressing himself in the same way Saka is allowed to at Arsenal.
"You wouldn’t like to play against him," Henry said on CBS Sports. "I’m not saying that you wouldn’t be able to stop him but he’s coming at you all the time.
Let him cook, let him play. We need to enjoy this type of player in these types of games
"He’s reminding me of - and I know it's early doors - but Ryan Giggs was one of the best because he was coming at you all game. Whether he’s having a good game or not a good game, he's trying to test you all the time and see if you’re going to stop him or not. That’s how it is as a winger."
Henry continued: "Coaches, at times, are scared of transition, counter-attack, playing against a low block. Y'know, if you lose the ball too early then you’re going to get done being open. But the first quality of the kid is to dribble. Why are you going to take that away? For me, to be able to make you tired, I’ll take advantage of what I’ve done.
"It’s like if you stop a boxer from jabbing. How is he going to work? If I don’t go at you five, six or seven times to stop me, how am I going to have the eighth time? You go to the eighth time and you can see he’s tired now. Ninth time, he doesn’t want me anymore, and then it’s easy.
"If I don’t make you run, I pass the ball all the time, it’s an easy job for you as a right-back or left-back. Let him cook, let him play. We need to enjoy this type of player in these types of games.
"I mention Michael Olise and Bukayo Saka. It doesn’t have to be scripted all the time: pass the ball, don’t lose it. I said it to Desire Doue against Egypt in the semi-finals [of the 2024 Olympics]. I put him on because he’s good in one-vs-one, I needed someone to go and not think anymore.
"I said, 'have a go whenever you have the ball, I don’t really care, do what you have to do', and I think he passed the ball one time back, second time back and I told him if he did it again, I'd take him out. Next thing you know, after that: yellow card, another yellow card and the right-back is sent off and we won the game.
"People talk about speed and how fast a player is. Who cares if you cannot control the ball? I've seen a lot of players who are fast but the ball goes out [of play]. Ryan Giggs, Robert Pires... they never used to lose speed when they had the ball at their feet. It's way more difficult to do that and keep control of the ball. That's more valuable then speed.
"You have to be fast here [points to his head], you're good with your feet and you can run... then you can cause trouble."
