Of all the young South American talents Chelsea have signed in the last couple of years, none as exciting as Kendry Paez.
Signed when he was just 15, the wonderkid is a true prodigy in every sense of the word, and every week there are clips of him doing his thing for Independiente Del Valle emerging to get us every excited.
He’s getting bigger, getting older, and getting better. But what happens when he’s 18 and is allowed to come to Europe? How will the club manage that crucial stage of his development?
According to El Canal del Futbol, a major Ecuadorian sports show, the plan is already decided. They claimed that the decision has been made to send Paez on loan to our sister club Strasbourg once he turns 18 and is able to come to Europe.
¡PÁEZ Y SU IDA AL FÚTBOL FRANCES!@ElTanqueHurtado : “Por un lado chévere si va a otro equipo, pero Kendry adquirirá experiencia en el Chelsea”.#LaBandaxECDF https://t.co/4vLeU7N3i6 pic.twitter.com/99HR2YiUm4
— ®El Canal del Fútbol ⚽ (@ElCanalDFutbol) April 10, 2024
That seems a sensible step up to adapt to the European game. He will have had years of playing senior football at that point, but at a far lower level, and this should mean an easy transition into a higher tier of play.
Another interesting question will be where Strasbourg are at at that point. This season saw a lot of change in the summer, and Patrick Vieira has had them lower mid table in Ligue 1 for most of the year. Will further investment from Chelsea’s owners push them higher up the table? Or will their transformation into a farm team for Chelsea drag them down?
That’s something we will find out a lot about in the year before Kendry arrives on this side of the Atlantic.