Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has confirmed to the media that he has no plans to use Kendry Paez before the January window.
There was much excitement around Paez, now 19, when the Blues originally agreed a deal in 2023, then 16 years old.
Paez officially joined Chelsea on his 18th birthday but has struggled to make an impact out on loan during various spells.
The most recent of which saw Paez return to South America to join River Plate in January on an 18 month straight loan, valid until June 2027.
However, after just three starts and fourteen appearances overall, in which time he scored once and assisted once, the loan was terminated at the end of the 2025/26 season.
Chelsea attempted to look for a fresh loan across Europe and England during the summer window, but nothing came off.
Paez’s talent cannot be questioned. He is a skilful and creative attacking midfielder who has already been capped by Ecuador several times.
However, there have been reports over his lack of input into training, as well as off field behaviour not matching up to professional standards and expectations.
It is expected that Paez will play minutes with Chelsea’s youth teams, now known as CNG (Cobham next gen), after Alonso said: ‘no, no, he is not part of the plans at the moment’ during his pre match presser ahead of Leeds this evening.
At 19, there is plenty of time for Paez to turn his fortunes around, but he may have to have a legitimate loan period of good performances and behaviour to get a real chance at Chelsea.
Even if not planned to feature in matches, it would surely make sense for Paez to mix in with the rest of the first team players at Chelsea, and perhaps even be guided and mentored by the likes of Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, who know all about how to be a top professional.
Training and playing with the academy may not be the right environment for him. Some of the players will be even younger and still in their own maturing stage. Paez needs experienced heads and guidance to get his career back on track.
The club should not give up on Paez’s natural talent. After all, they are the ones who invested £17.3m on him when he was just 16.
