If you don’t know who Kendy Páez is yet, it’s likely you will before too long. In the extensive list of Chelsea youngsters, the Ecuadorian is the one making the biggest waves.
And that excitement is something which needs to be carefully managed, at least according to journalist Eduardo Jijón, who writes about the Chelsea man for La República today.
For those that don’t know, Páez was signed by Chelsea this summer but has been left at Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle until he turns 18, when he will then head to Stamford Bridge.
The hope is that he will continue to develop his game in his homeland and be ready for life in Europe in two years’ time and, at the moment, that appears to be very likely.
Páez has continued his rapid rise in recent months, shining for his club, where he became the youngster scorer and assister in history of South American qualifiers as well as making his debut for his country and bagging a goal in the clash with Bolivia.
He is very much the shining jewel for his country and the hype is already building, with Jijón admitting he personally doesn’t want to get his hopes up but can’t resist given what Páez is achieving.
He admits that ‘comparisons in football are inevitable’ and that is the case with Páez, who already appears to be better than what Ecuador have served up in recent years, and that includes Chelsea star Moisés Caicedo.
Jijón likens the youngster to Toni Kroos in that if he scores a normal goal, he considers it uninteresting or as not counting, but also with a touch of Lionel Messi, his recent strike against Guayaquil City one the Argentine ‘would sign for you’.
He’s also adept at set pieces and has demonstrated that too, with another striker likened to something James Rodríguez would produce but dispatched as if ‘he were in the park near his house’.
That’s big praise but it’s all justified according to the journalist, who believes the Chelsea youngster is the real deal and will be a star of the future.
He, though, urges fans to ‘have patience’ and remember Páez is only 16 years old and there will be games where he isn’t the shining star.
He wants his country and their fans to ‘let Kendry be Kendry’ and develop normally, without comparing him to Jude Bellingham or Erling Haaland. He cites the case of Vinicius Junior, who he says ‘went from meme to Ballon d’Or nominee in a couple of years.’
He believes with time, and patience, it won’t be long be Páez is in Chelsea’s first team and shining but expectations need to be held back for now, although it’s ‘probably too late for that’.
