Chelsea to fuel Strasbourg ANGER with new transfer plan

Tom Weber

Updated: 10 Apr 2024 16:09 BST
3 min read

Behdad Eghbali, Todd Boehly, Strasbourg, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Chelsea will loan Kendry Paez to Strasbourg upon his arrival in Europe, according to a report.

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The Blues' relationship with RC Strasbourg - or at least with the club's fans - is strained to say the least. There is a veritable civil war happening in Alsace over BlueCo's ownership of the Ligue 1 side.

Strasbourg fans were vehemently opposed to the takeover last year and their anger has only been stoked as incompetent squad building has left their side in a relegation battle. When head coach Patrick Vieira asked for experienced reinforcements and for wingers in January, the only signing he received was 19-year-old central midfielder Andrey Santos from Chelsea.

While Santos has certainly offered Strasbourg and Chelsea a glimmer of hope with his encouraging performances - Racing are unbeaten in the three games he has started in - his signing confirmed to fans that the French side are now a mere farm team for Chelsea.

Paez to Strasbourg

Now, it is being reported that Chelsea plan to repeat their Santos and Angelo Gabriel trick with Kendry Paez when he moves to Europe in 2025. The Ecuadorian teenage sensation will join Chelsea next summer, but it seems that he will first move to Strasbourg on loan to help him get to grips with the European game.

At least that's according to journalist Danex Jacome, who reports that Paez looks set to move to France. The plan isn't set in stone yet as there is still more than a year to go until his arrival, but this is the course of action that is currently garnering support in the upper echelons at Stamford Bridge.

Paez is still playing in his native Ecuador with prolific talent factory Independiente del Valle, who also produced fellow Blue Moises Caicedo and Bundesliga stars Piero Hincapie and Willian Pacho. Paez already has six senior caps for his country to his name at the tender age of 16, though he was recently in hot water over an alleged illicit visit to a strip club.