Who is Kendry Paez? The untold biography of the Ecuadorian wonder kid signed by Chelsea.
We presents the biography of a young Ecuadorian footballer who has already started breaking records set by Brazilian legend Pele at just the age of 16. This article will breakdown the background, hometown, education, religion, career and net worth tales.
Who is Kendry Paez?
Kendry Paez is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays for Independiente Del Valle in Ecuadorian Serie A league and is currently signed by Chelsea but due to UK rules for eligibility to have a work permit he will have to wait until the summer of 2025 when he is 18 years and join Chelsea.
The youngster has already drawn the attention of the world in terms of football statistics as he has already broken Pele’s record as the youngest assist maker and youngest goalscorer at CONMEBOL tournament at just the age of 16. Due to his style of play he has been described as a fearless dribbler who has been inspired by fellow Ecuadorian Gonzalo Plata and Lionel Messi as he grew up watching them to improve his dribbling abilities.
Kendry Paez background and Family.
We begin by unfolding notable events of Kendry Paez childhood years as in truth not many have read the story of Paez in a deeper way.
Born, Ray Kendry Páez Andrade was born on 4th May 2007 to his father Ray Páez and mother Jéssica Andrade in Guayaquil Ecuador. Kendry is 1.75m (5ft 9 inch ) tall and plays as midfielder. Kendry is believed to be the sole child of these two as there are no online records suggesting that he has siblings.
We unfolds unknown fact about Kendry Paez parents that both of them were athletes in different sports. Kendry’s father played baseball at his youth ages but later changed to football of which he is still playing till today although at an amateur level while her mother played football as she came from a football family.
Kendry used to spend his childhood in Trinitaria island and Duran, just a short distance from his birthplace Guayaquil and was deeply shaped by this surroundings as he cherishes this memories of his upbringing and recalling the struggles his family endured. Kendry didn’t grow near Independiente del Valle academy despite the financial constrains her mother played a huge role for his football career breakthrough as she had to pay for his bus tickets for him not to miss the training sessions.
Kendry Paez ethnicity is of Mestizo ethnic group which represents the majority of the country population and it’s a mixture of an indigenous and a European unlike the likes of fellow Ecuadorian player Moises Caicedo who is Afro-Ecuadorian.
Education
Although specific institutions where Paez attended his basic education remain undisclosed it’s evident that the midfielder finished both primary and secondary education while also advancing his football youth career.
Football Career.
The story of this wonderkid career starts as early at the age of five as his parents had already enrolled him to a local academy, Huancavilca where it didn’t take long and he secured a transfer to Academia Alfaro Moreno where his abilities begun to be seen. Later at age of eight, Barcelona SC were offered a chance to register the player but the club did not sign him as the president felt hard to pay for a player at this age. He moved to Emelec then Patria where he started to feature more regularly thus catching the eye of Independiente.
Independiente del Valle
Kendry joined Independiente del Valle in 2018 at the age of 12. Basically this has been termed as the turning point of his career as his performances at the youth level started drawing attention from overseas especially from Europe where clubs like Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United showed more interests for the player and sent bids in December 2022 to sign the player but they were rejected.
The midfielder was promoted to the senior team in 2023 and in February 25 he marked his highly anticipated professional debut with a goal in a 3-1 win against Mushuc Runa. By this he became the youngest debutant and youngest goalscorer in Ecuadorian top flight league. The midfielder has made 20 appearances this year scoring two goals and five assist.
Chelsea
The player will join the Premier league club upon reaching his 18th birthday in July 2025. Chelsea announced his signing on 5th June 2023 at a fee of £17M.
International Career.
The midfielder has represented Ecuador at both the senior team and the youth level. He has featured in the Ecuador under 17 in the South American championship and in the first match he provided an assist in a 2-2 comeback draw against Brazil. Paez was included in 2023 FIFA under 20 world cup where he was the youngest and also became the youngest goalscorer in the competition when he scored a goal in Ecuador 9-0 win over Fiji.
On 5th June 2023, Paez received his first Ecuador senior team call up and made his debut on 12th September against Uruguay in world cup qualifiers where he made an assist to the winning goal. This made him set a record as the youngest assist maker in the history of south American football and the second youngest player to feature in the south American games behind Maradona. He scored his first goal with Ecuador senior team against Bolivia thus becoming the youngest to do so in CONMEBOL matches.
Net worth.
Due to the youngster being at his beginning of career and fame his net worth is undisclosed but his contract details at Chelsea regarding salary wages have been disclosed. The midfielder is rumoured to be earning £195,000 per month and an annual salary coming close to $2.5 million dollars.
