At one stage, Chelsea’s owners and sporting directors believed their recruitment strategy was being vindicated.
Following Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s takeover, there has been a clear shift in Chelsea’s transfer policy. The club have focused on signing young players and bringing the average age of the squad down.
It is something that they have been heavily criticised for, but after winning the Club World Cup and Conference League, the senior leaders at Stamford Bridge were starting to look justified.
However, since then, it has been all downhill for the Blues, who finished 10th place in the Premier League last season. Overall, Chelsea’s recruitment strategy has not been a success, and Kendry Paez is further proof of that.
Chelsea are reportedly set to tweak their transfer strategy and sign more experienced players!
Kendry Paez loan termination further proof Chelsea’s strategy isn’t working
It is being reported that River Plate have decided to end Paez’s loan spell. This comes after Chelsea recalled Paez from their sister club Strasbourg in January and sent the attacking midfielder to Argentina.
Today, Paez is your typical Chelsea signing: a talented youngster with potential but has not kicked a ball in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s team was initially filled with those, while they also had similar players out on loan last season.
Has recruiting such players borne any fruit yet? Not really, other than the Club World Cup and Conference League trophies, which are not the biggest honours in football, Chelsea have little to show after spending well over a £1bn on talent.
They did finish fourth in the table in 2025, qualifying for the Champions League in the process. But in four full seasons under this ownership, that is the only time Chelsea have qualified for Europe’s elite competition, which should be the bare minimum for a club of their stature.
Ultimately, this mission to sign unproven talents and hoping that they can become the next Kylian Mbappe or Lamine Yamal is not working. And Paez’s disastrous loan spells at River Plate and Strasbourg have shown that.
There needs to be balance. Chelsea should also be trying to sign ready-made superstars. For all the potential that the likes of Paez, Estevao Willian and Geovany Quenda have, can they outperform Erling Haaland, Bruno Fernandes or Bukayo Saka? These are the players Chelsea are asking their teenagers to go up against. It is madness!
Kendry Paez’s River Plate and Strasbourg stats
For any Chelsea fans not keeping track of Paez’s progress and wondering just how underwhelming his loan spells have been, here are some numbers:
Paez joined River Plate at the end of January and has scored just one goal in 14 outings. Only three of those appearances were starts.
At Strasbourg, the 19-year-old scored one goal in 21 games and only made four starts in Ligue 1.
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There has not been any confirmation yet that Paez’s loan spell at River Plate has been terminated. But there is no denying that things have not worked out for him there or in France.
Paez could still come good, but Chelsea are not going to win a league title or the Champions League any time soon by waiting on potential to develop into something.
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