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Chelsea have a HUGE Kendry Paez problem
Tom Weber
- Updated: 30 Jan 2026 19:48 GMT
- 5 min read
News
Chelsea appear to have a significant problem on their hands with Kendry Paez.
The 18-year-old officially joined the Blues last summer, although a deal for him had already been agreed way back in 2023. Due to his age, the teenager was unable to move to Europe until 2025.
Chelsea attempted to aid his acclimatisation by inviting him to Cobham several times before the summer. When he finally arrived in Europe in April, he was immediately sent to sister club Strasbourg to train. It was eventually announced that he had joined the club on loan for the season.
Current ETV
Kendry Páez
AM (C), M (CR)
Strasbourg
Kendry Páez
AM (C), M (CR)
Strasbourg
ETV Range
€12.1M - €14.8M
However, his stint in France has now been cut short. Paez has been recalled and will instead be loaned to River Plate until 2027. He played just a little over 700 minutes during his time at Strasbourg.
According to L'Equipe, Paez's lack of action in Ligue 1 wasn't merely down to him being a poor tactical fit or because he failed to properly settle in Alsace, but it was, in part, because of severe attitude problems.
Paez has been making negative headlines for years
The French outlet claims that concerns arose almost immediately. Already in April, then-coach Liam Rosenior was unconvinced by Paez. The youngster apparently did not make a great impression in training, yet Chelsea decided to loan him to Strasbourg anyway.
He started the new season in promising fashion, but this wasn't to last. His form dropped off, and there was growing unease about his lifestyle away from football.
The report details how Paez went on numerous trips to Disneyland Paris and spent a lot of time in nightclubs in Strasbourg and across the border in Germany. He was frequently accused of lacking professionalism at Strasbourg.
In December, Rosenior harshly criticised Paez and his teammates, including Julio Enciso, who was initially expected to join Chelsea last summer. “There are no more excuses now that they're getting playing time," the now-Chelsea head coach thundered.
"We expect more, clearly. I'm fed up with using the excuse of the players' youth. If the players don't follow instructions, no problem, we'll find others who do. At some point, we have to be more demanding about performance.
"There were several situations that should have given us great opportunities if everyone had followed the positioning instructions. It's unacceptable, and it has to change for the second half of the season. I want players who do what they're asked to do on the field.”
Of course, it is par for the course that a teenager makes dumb mistakes. However, with Paez, there is a growing body of evidence that this is a more concerning issue. He had a history of making negative headlines even before he arrived in Europe.
In early 2024, the then-16-year-old was spotted in a New York strip club with two older national team teammates, which caused a scandal in Ecuador. Because he was a minor at the time, he did not receive a severe punishment.
Just a few months later, now 17, he was again rumoured to have been caught partying, which caused Ecuador boss Sebastian Beccacece to urge him to become more mature and "learn to handle" his stardom.
L'Equipe accuses Paez of partying, drinking and inhaling nitrous oxide. However, the report also blames Strasbourg for "poorly supervising" the youngster.
If he can't get his life away from football under control, his promising career will go completely off the rails. It should serve as a lesson that turning teenagers as young as 14 or 15 into footballing superstars and - in his case - national heroes is perhaps ill-advised.
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