Kendry Páez joins River Plate on 18-month loan from Chelsea | OneFootball

Kendry Páez has joined River Plate on an 18-month loan from Chelsea, with no option to buy.

According to SuperDepor.com, the 18-year-old signed alongside club president Stefano Di Carlo. Chelsea previously paid 25 million dollars for his registration after spotting him at Independiente del Valle at 16.

He arrived this morning and went straight to the Rossi clinic, then finalised the move later. In principle, he will report to Marcelo Gallardo’s squad tomorrow and aims to be in the matchday four list against Tigre.

The deal was completed on Wednesday, unexpectedly, as he had been on loan at Racing Strasbourg. Gallardo tracked him in the 2025 mid-year window, and the switch now comes at Chelsea’s request to boost his minutes before the 2026 World Cup.

This year he has played only 12 minutes across two games. In 2025 he made 21 appearances, one goal and one assist, in 718 minutes, after spending the first part of last year at Chelsea without playing. Since his 2023 debut he has featured in 70 matches, with 13 goals and six assists.

Internationally, he became the youngest scorer in South American qualifying with the 1-0 against Bolivia on 12 October 2023, aged 16 years and 161 days. He has two goals and three assists in 23 caps for Ecuador and is regarded as a certainty for the World Cup.

Source: SuperDepor.com