Romano explains plans for €20m starlet who was at Cobham today | OneFootball

Chelsea didn’t make any significant first team additions in January – much to the frustration of some fans – but there is some excitement about a new face at Cobham today.

Kendry Paez’s team in Ecuador are about to start their new season, but the youngster has come over the Atlantic for some training at Cobham. He came to visit a year ago, but this is his first time to come and train properly with the first team.

The wonderkid signed for €20m in 2023 and has since continued to play for his club team and make senior appearances for the Ecuador national team. It seems now that he won’t play again for Independiente del Valle again.

His form dropped off towards the end of last year, but given his age that’s only natural. We’re seeing right now at Chelsea how hard it is for younger players to stay consistent, and Paez is still just 17.

Paez perfectly placed to take advantage of slow and steady adaptation

Fabrizio Romano’s Tweet about Kendry Paez training at Cobham.

It’s hard to overstate how big an advantage this is going to give Kendry. If he really does start training regularly from now he will have plenty of time to integrate before the Club World Cup in June. We expect him to play in that tournament, which will be the first taste of competitive action Chelsea fans get to see him in.

After that he gets a summer break, then a whole preseason with his new team. By the time the Premier League comes around in August he will have had lots of time to adapt both on and off the pitch, and hopefully plenty of minutes in the CWC and preseason friendlies to impress with.

Compared to the difficult situations some players are put in when making a big leap like this, Kendry should be perfectly placed.