When Clearlake took over at Chelsea, the plan seemed clear: sign the stars of tomorrow, develop them at Stamford Bridge and eventually sell them on for a profit.
Yet, for all the talk of building for the future, not every young player has been given the chance to shine at SW6. Now, another could be heading for the exit after being told he is not part of the first-team manager’s plans and struggling to make an impact during his loan spells.
So, where did it all go wrong for a player once held in such high regard?
When Chelsea signed 16-year-old Kendry Paez from the Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in 2023 for £17.27m, they believed they had just signed the world's next biggest talent. Fast forward three years, and Paez, now aged 19, has just played his first minutes in Chelsea colours for Cobham New Gen (formerly Chelsea under-21s), making a 12-minute substitute cameo.
Paez was initially loaned out to Chelsea’s sister club, Strasbourg, where he initially impressed, winning September’s player of the month, but his loan would be cut short after 21 appearances and one goal, he would be sent to River Plate on a two-year loan, but was to be frozen out of the squad, which wouldn’t have been in his or Chelsea’s plans.
The youngster was called up to Ecuador’s World Cup squad in the summer and made one appearance against Mexico, playing 11 minutes. With all the international loan slots filled up, Chelsea had no choice but to look for Paez to go out on loan to an English club, but there was no interest in him.
What happens now?
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso came out and said that Paez was “not in my plans”, going on to say “He is not part of the plans. At the moment, he is not part of the first team squad.” Which most likely means that he won’t be getting any first-team minutes any time soon.
One saving grace for Paez was that in his brief cameo for Cobham New Gen, he looked promising, providing a cross which was tapped in by Harrison Bettoni in injury time which proved to be a consolation.
The hope for Paez will be that he can impress in the youth setup until the January transfer window opens and hope an EFL side picks him up, or if one of the International loan slots opens up and Paez can go abroad.
One thing you can’t deny about Paez is his talent and his potential, getting 27 caps for Ecuador, with some comparing him to Diego Maradona, for a player of his age and stage of his career, he just needs regular game time to get integrated into a squad and then can showcase his talent.
Add us as a preferred source on Google