Liverpool have had to watch on as Chelsea hoover up talent after talent from the South American market.
Despite the continent being filled with prodigious young players looking to further their careers in Europe, the Reds simply have not made the most of their status.
In contrast, Chelsea have moved quickly and decisively to sign a number of the highest profile wonderkids available.
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Liverpool got a front-row seat to how effective their strategy is becoming in October, when Estevao Willian pounced to score a last-second winner against them at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds could have signed Estevao had they been a little more proactive, and according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, they have now been beaten to yet another top talent.
On Friday, Liverpool were linked with Deinner Ordonez, a 16-year-old Ecuadorian creating waves with Independiente del Valle. By the same evening, Chelsea had signed him. According to Romano, the Reds were simply too late to the party.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes answers questions after being unveiled at the AXA Training Centre.
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool too slow on Deinner Ordonez
As Liverpool shop around for centre-backs who can future-proof their back line, Ordonez had sounded like an exciting prospect.
Clearly, he would not be a signing for the here and now – and he will not join Chelsea until 2028 – but by moving quickly, the Blues have made certain that if he blossoms as expected, they will benefit.
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Speaking to his YouTube channel late on Friday evening, Romano briefly mentioned Liverpool’s interest, but confirmed that they were far too slow in following it up.
“Today in the morning we had links with Liverpool, saying that they were also interested. But Chelsea already closed the deal,” said the transfer expert.
🚨🔵 EXCLUSIVE: Deinner Ordóñez to Chelsea, here we go! Agreement reached today for 16 year old talented defender to join #CFC project.
Independiente del Valle accepted all conditions as Chelsea anticipate 3 top European clubs.
🇪🇨 The Ecuadorian will arrive in January 2028. pic.twitter.com/NazAzPLz09
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 14, 2025
View Tweet
“These links were quite late because Chelsea already had an agreement at that point. We wait for an official statement but the deal is done.”
While this is certainly nothing to lose sleep over this weekend, like Estevao, Ordonez may eventually come back to bite Liverpool and their sluggishness will be to blame.
Liverpool must improve South American business
Although Chelsea signing yet another South American teenager will likely cause eye rolls from rival supporters, Liverpool fans should be slightly concerned.
As a top club, they should be in the driving seat for some of these players when they move to Europe.
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Instead, Liverpool tend to allow South American talents to join two or three different clubs before paying over the odds to get them years later.
It is time the Reds cut out the middle man here and went straight to the source. As Estevao and others have shown, they are able to adapt and slot straight into a European team.
Liverpool need to start trusting their scouts who are clearly doing work on these players only to see other clubs win the race.
Ordonez can now be added to a long list of hot prospects who have gotten away from the Reds. They cannot allow any more to join him there. Improvements need to be made to get to these players and get to them quickly.