Ben Jacobs reveals Cole Palmer thinks Chelsea have loanee who could be “big” for them one day | OneFootball

Cole Palmer has been in contact with Chelsea youngster Kendry Paez about his long term integration at Chelsea according to Ben Jacobs.

The Blues signed the attacker from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in 2023 for around €20m as a 16-year-old, but he’s yet to kick a ball for the club.

The attacker is already a full Ecuador international where he plays alongside current Chelsea star Moises Caicedo, whilst the Blues also have a strong South American core in their squad.

Cole Palmer has spoken to Kendry Paez

Chelsea took the decision to send Paez on loan to Strasbourg to continue his development, but things didn’t go to plan in France.

There have been question marks over the teenager and his lifestyle, and Chelsea took the decision to recall the Ecuadorian early.

Paez has now been sent on loan to River Plate. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

Paez has now been sent on loan to Argentine side River Plate for 18 months, where Chelsea will hope he can rediscover his form.

The youngster no doubt has ability, but has struggled since he left South America, but Jacobs has reported that both Palmer and Reece James have spoken to Paez.

“Sources maybe two, three weeks ago, thought a move to England might be possible to kind of further help with his acclimatisation, and now it turns out he’s going to be going back to South America, to Argentina, to River Plate. This one is all agreed in principle,” he told Market Madness.

“Palmer, I think, had spoken to Kendry Paez even when he was at Strasbourg, kind of to speak to him about long-term integration, and Reece James has had a conversation with him as well.”

Senior Chelsea stars invested in youngster

Whilst Paez has talent he really needs to knuckle down and work hard to realise his potential, but Jacobs has added a number of senior players are invested in him.

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“So a lot of the senior Chelsea players have been quite invested in Kendry Paez because they think that he could be big for the football club one day,” he added.

“But in the short term, with the World Cup in mind, the parties have basically agreed that a better option is to send Kendry Paez back to South America, and this will be a season-long loan, which is significant because, remember, the Argentine Primera Division begins in January and ends in December.”