Unsurprisingly, loads of Chelsea fans were excited about the prospect of Kendry Paez playing at this summer’s Club World Cup.
Paez is one of the most exciting talents to come out of South American football in recent years, with the attacking midfielder making an incredible impact at just 18.
He is already a full Ecuador international with 18 caps and two goals for his country, showing just how well his development is coming along.
Even so, Chelsea have decided to leave Paez out of their Club World Cup squad, though there has been a recent development involving the player.
Chelsea fans confused after club decide to take Kendry Paez to Club World Cup
Chelsea initially planned to leave Paez behind, with the Ecuadorian set to join the Blues’ sister club Strasbourg on loan.
However, journalist Ben Jacobs has shared on X that Chelsea have changed their mind and decided to include Paez in Enzo Maresca‘s first-team group and have him train with them. He is not registered to play in the Club World Cup, though, making the whole situation puzzling to supporters.
One Chelsea fan hit out at the club’s owners for how Paez has been handled, saying: “Clearlake with another weird decision.”
Another supporter feels that Chelsea have undoubtedly made an error here. They posted on X: “The club made a mistake and backtracked. Only negative is Kendry Paez won’t be able to play in the games which would have been perfect for him to find form, with seven free slots wasted and light numbers on the wing and no proper [Cole] Palmer rotation. Regardless, hope he feels better now.”
Another Chelsea fan was also critical of the Blues and said: “This club moves in mysterious ways at the best of times — and completely illogical ones at the worst. So much feels last-minute and unplanned. All we can do now is hope they nurture a prodigious talent like Paez properly.”
One user on X did not hold back and got straight to the point. “This is stupid.”
One other user posted: “They’re messing around this kid and I personally hate it tbh.”
For one Chelsea supporter, they could only describe the whole thing as “silly”.
While Paez will not get to make his competitive debut for Chelsea in the US unless he is registered for the second part of the tournament, the likes of Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr could. Maresca plans to be patient with Essugo and Sarr, however, so Chelsea fans should not expect too much from them just yet.
Chelsea’s management of Kendry Paez perplexing
Chelsea omitting Paez out of their squad in the first place was baffling. They included Christopher Nkunku over him, someone who is unlikely to be at the club next season.
Nkunku has been linked to Juventus and several others sides after failing to win a place in Maresca’s starting XI.
To bring Paez now and not be able to use him leaves a bit of egg on Chelsea’s face. They should have just registered the Ecuador international for the tournament, especially when they had registration spots left.
