Today, those who don’t know Kendry Paez will get to know him.
As usual, we will go through his brief but astonishing career, explore his statistics, playing style, and, of course, give the Calcio Deal rating.
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Index
The trajectory of Kendry Paez
Ray Kendry Páez Andrade, or simply Kendry Paez, was born on May 4, 2007, in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Yes, he’s only 16 years old. We’re not talking about a U-17 player here, but rather a professional player who manages to stand out remarkably among fully grown men.
Paez plays as the typical number 10 and is another example of Independiente Del Valle’s spectacular organization.
For those who are not familiar with this team, here are some points.
Independiente Del Valle is a team founded in 1958 in the city of Sanlonguí, in the metropolitan region of Quito, the country’s capital.
Entrepreneur Michel Deller was responsible for making Del Valle the respected team it is today throughout South America. He took control of the club in 2007.
Since then, a team that fluctuated between amateur and professional categories has become a two-time Copa Sudamericana champion, Copa Libertadores runner-up, Recopa Sudamericana champion, Ecuadorian League champion, Copa, and Supercopa del Ecuador champion.
All of this was achieved through tremendous organizational work, valuing many innovative methods in player development, as well as in the scouting process.
Kendry Paez emerges in this context.
The 16-year-old stands at 177cm tall and is left-footed.
Despite his young age, he has been called up to the Ecuadorian national team, even breaking a series of records while wearing his country’s shirt.
Among them, he is the youngest player in history to score a goal and provide an assist in the South American Qualifiers.
That’s not all. When it comes to the Ecuadorian national team, he is the youngest player to score and play for his country, as well as the youngest Ecuadorian player to score a goal in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
With so many achievements attained by this prodigy, Chelsea didn’t waste time and secured his signing.
The deal values were not disclosed, but we can imagine it involves a significant amount.
As he is only 16 years old, he will join the Blues in July 2025. For now, he remains an option for Independiente Del Valle.
Image: Reproduction OGol
Playing Style and Statistics
Kendry Paez is a classic number 10, especially when playing for the Ecuador national team in the youth categories.
He also performs this role at Del Valle and in the senior national team, although on some occasions, he’s shifted to the right wing.
Kendry is a cerebral player. Our title isn’t for nothing. He’s the kind of player who waits for the exact moment to release the ball. Surprisingly, he can read his teammates’ and opponents’ movements in a tenth of a second, usually making the right decision when passing.
Taking Rondo Reports’ analysis as an example, he can decipher the moment when pressure from the marking moves away from his teammate towards him, leaving his teammate free.
Moreover, he has excellent ball control. He can carry it at speed and set the rhythm in a fraction of a second, making it very difficult to mark him.
He’s also a good finisher, taking shots from outside the area prudently and intelligently, in general.
The only two negative points that can be mentioned are entirely reversible over time. Firstly, also based on Rondo Reports’ analysis, he may have an excess of confidence in attempting to dribble past opponents.
The second point is the need to build more muscle mass, especially in today’s physically demanding football. However, considering we’re talking about a 16-year-old player, this should not even be taken into account as he has a significant margin for muscular growth and in his stature.
According to Wyscout, Paez, playing among professionals and FIFA youth competitions, has around a 60% success rate in total actions and long passes.
When it comes to passing, the percentage reaches almost 80%.
His goal average is 0.27, and assists are at 0.22, meaning a goal or assist every approximately 4 games.
These are impressive numbers for a 16-year-old.
Image: Disclosure FEF
Future Prospects and Evaluation
The future of Kendry Paez is already in front of our eyes.
Already sold to Chelsea, he will arrive at the English club only in December 2025. This time before his arrival in Europe will be absolutely crucial.
As mentioned earlier, Independiente Del Valle has an extremely high-level structure. This is reflected in the coaching staff.
The tactical level taught at Independiente Del Valle is very high. This is even a significant differentiator for the team, which, with much less investment compared to Brazilian teams, for example, manages to compete at the highest level. In the Copa Sudamericana final, Del Valle defeated São Paulo and in the Recopa Sudamericana, they defeated Flamengo.
Furthermore, the period of just over 18 months will also serve for Chelsea to better structure itself. The club has not been in a good organizational phase since Abramovic’s departure as owner.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Kendry Paez is the Ecuadorian player with the greatest perspective of all time. Names like Alberto Spencer and Enner Valencia are very important in the country’s history, but nothing compares to this 16-year-old.
Considering all the facts narrated and the possibility of playing at a high level in the top European teams, Kendry Paez receives a rating of 9.1.
Image: Getty Images
Written by Vitor F L Miller.
