Chelsea has its eye on Kendry Paez. The English club highlighted his latest performances for River Plate, and fans are now wondering whether the Ecuadorian is ready to return to Europe or will stay in Argentina through the end of the year.
Kendry Paez continues to add minutes at River Plate, and while it seemed that Chelsea was going to conduct an analysis at the end of the season about the player, they have now made a gesture that shows they are paying attention to what the Ecuadorian does match by match in Argentina.
In its official media, Chelsea made a recap of the recent performances of its loaned players and highlighted Kendry Paez's goal vs. Aldosivi and the assist against Carabobo in the Copa Sudamericana.
This generates expectations among the fans of both Chelsea and River Plate, who wonder if the London club thinks Paez is ready to begin adding minutes in Europe or if he should stay in Argentina until the end of this year.
Chelsea has a clause that allows it to recall Paez in June if he does not complete 50% of the minutes played; however, based on what has been shown, it seems the Ecuadorian has the full confidence of coach Eduardo Coudet.
After having spent €20 million on Independiente del Valle, it is clear that Chelsea wants its player to have playing minutes so that he gains experience, as a plan in which the player can join the ranks of the West London team in the future.
Kendry Paez has a loan contract with River Plate until mid-2027. However, the Ecuadorian player could leave in mid-2026 if he has not played at least 50% of the games. That decision, however, must be made among all parties.
Given Chelsea's current crisis of results, it would not be surprising if they begin to look at their loaned players for a hypothetical squad restructuring. Furthermore, with the World Cup just around the corner.
If these loaned players perform well with their respective national teams, it would not be at all strange for them to return to London earlier than expected, as could happen with Paez.
Other notable players who could return to the club after being on loan would be Nicolas Jackson, who still does not seem to convince Bayern Munich to exercise the purchase option, and Aaron Anselmino, who, after a few games having arrived at Borussia Dortmund, was brought back to Chelsea to be loaned again, but this time to the sister team, RC Strasbourg.
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