Chelsea’s future Bellingham? Wonderkid scoops major awards

Robin Bairner

• 31 Jan 2024 12:37 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea fans have been given more reason to be excited about the signing of Kendry Paez from Independiente Del Valle, with the teenager picking up a couple of prestigious awards for his performances last season.

Paez will join Chelsea in the summer of 2025, once he has turned 18, but the Stamford Bridge side have already secured the services of the teenager, who has already featured on five occasions for the Ecuador national team.

Now Paez has achieved more recognition after a campaign in which he scored five goals and created one more for Independiente’s senior team.

He has been named the best young player in the Ecuadorian league as well as the best offensive midfielder in the country, plus he has been named in the Liga Pro team of the season.

This is quite an achievement for a young player who only made his debut in February but serves to highlight what an exciting talent Paez is.

Chelsea fans thrilled by Paez

Chelsea fans have already been growing in excitement over a central midfield prospect that they believe could be the equal of Real Madrid ace Jude Bellingham, with this fuelled by an outstanding performance against Chile.

It is too early to accurately draw such comparisons, though, with data analytics experts SciSports lacking the volume of numbers required to provide an accurate estimate of his qualities.

Although the teenager cannot yet be integrated fully into the Blues’ setup due to Fifa legislation regarding players so young, he has already had a taste of life at Stamford Bridge.

Paez has been treated to a series of settling-in visits by the Premier League giants, with two or three of these spells expected with the London side before he finally completes his switch on a full-time basis next summer.

He fits the bill of Chelsea’s ‘Vision 2030’, which is designed to have the club’s youngsters all peaking by the end of the decade.

At present, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are only 10th in the standings.