Chelsea youngster Kendry Páez has received two pretty stark warnings from people who know his career well, while the Blues continue trying to find him somewhere to play.
The Ecuadorian remains outside River Plate’s first-team plans and is training separately in Argentina. Chelsea are expected to send him out again, but there is still no confirmed destination.
Michel Deller, the leading figure at Independiente del Valle, believes some of Páez’s own choices have contributed to the position he finds himself in.
His former Ecuador manager Sebastián Beccacece has raised similar concerns.
“Decisions that have complicated his life”
Deller watched Páez develop at Independiente del Valle and saw him make his professional debut at just 15.
Speaking to El Intransigente in Argentina via River Plate insider Soy de Millo, he was unusually direct about the Chelsea player’s current situation.
“He made decisions that have complicated his life,” Deller said. “At this point in his life, it is up to him. He knows what he has to do. Opportunities are limited, not unlimited.”
Deller still clearly hopes Páez can turn things around. “God willing, he matures so he can reach his best version.”
Beccacece sees the same problem
Manager Sebastián Beccacece offers another interesting perspective. He worked with Páez for Ecuador and took him to this summer’s World Cup despite his lack of regular club football.
As relayed by Olé, the Argentine started by defending the youngster’s attitude whenever he joined the national team.
“He is an extraordinary kid who, in training with us, always showed great commitment and intensity. He was one of the players who ran the most, the first to train and the last to leave. At national-team level, in terms of the numbers and commitment, he has been remarkable.”
That makes what followed more interesting.
“He has played few minutes at his clubs and that is not good for a footballer because he needs the day-to-day work. Why did I take him to the World Cup? Because he had been part of the process and because he is a player with great talent.”
The talent, then, is not Beccacece’s concern. Turning it into something consistent at club level clearly is.
“He still hasn’t been able to explode. He will have to look internally at why, in the day-to-day work, he cannot find those spaces that allow him to show himself.”
“There is something he will have to review and rethink in order to bring out the talent he has and showed at the beginning of his career.”
Chelsea still need somewhere for him to play
Páez has yet to make his competitive Chelsea debut and his first two loans have done little to move him closer to one.
Soy del Millo say Xabi Alonso does not intend to use the midfielder this season, making another loan the obvious route.
KV Mechelen have previously made enquiries, although there has been no concrete offer from Belgium. Additionally, the Trabzonspor situation is less clear. This is because recent reports said the Turkish club had backed away from negotiations. Then there is the Norwich route. We have covered this earlier this week.
Either way, Chelsea have yet to provide Páez with the one thing he badly needs right now – a club where he can actually start playing regularly again.
Wherever Páez ends up, Deller and Beccacece have now arrived at a similar point from two very different positions.
Chelsea still have time on their side. Páez is only 19. But, as the man who watched his career begin has now reminded him, the opportunities themselves will not keep coming forever.
