Chelsea no longer need to consider activating any recall clause for Kendry Páez. Because River Plate have got there first.
For months, the discussion around the Ecuadorian focused on whether Chelsea would intervene if the midfielder failed to secure enough minutes in Argentina. The situation has now moved beyond that point.
According to TyC Sports, River have already made the decision themselves. Now the youngster has no future at the club beyond the World Cup.
River end experiment early
Páez arrived in Buenos Aires as one of River’s headline signings of the summer window.
The move was presented as a chance to relaunch the teenager’s development after an inconsistent spell at Strasbourg, where he played 21 matches but struggled to establish himself as a regular starter.
Six months later, River have reportedly reached their verdict.
TyC Sports report that manager Eduardo Coudet and the club hierarchy have decided the Ecuadorian will not form part of the squad for the second half of the season.
While the paperwork has not yet been completed, the decision itself is described as final. That means the loan will end months before its scheduled expiry date.
The original agreement was supposed to run until December, but Páez is now expected to return to Chelsea after the World Cup.
Expectations never matched reality
The story is a disappointing one for all parties really. TyC Sports describe Páez’s arrival as one of River’s biggest transfer surprises earlier in the year. However, the excitement surrounding the move never translated into consistent performances.
The midfielder finished his River spell with 14 appearances, one goal and one assist. There were flashes of brilliance, of course. Yet those moments proved isolated rather than the beginning of a breakthrough.
Instead, he gradually lost ground under Coudet, dropped out of important matchday squads and ultimately failed to convince the coaching staff that he should remain part of the project.
As the Argentine report put it, the reality simply did not match the expectation.
A second difficult loan in a row
Now this is the most worrying part. The River move was supposed to correct the problems encountered during Páez’s time at Strasbourg. Instead, it has created a very similar outcome.
At Strasbourg, he struggled for continuity and never truly established himself. At River, he initially found opportunities under Coudet, only to lose prominence as the season progressed.
The result is that Chelsea now find themselves back where they started. One year on from his arrival in Europe, the club are once again looking for the best environment to continue his development.
Chelsea face another decision
The next step is not entirely clear. Reports from Ecuador suggest Chelsea do not currently intend to incorporate Páez into the first-team squad for the new season.
Instead, the expectation is that another club will be sought so the youngster can continue accumulating minutes.
That makes the World Cup particularly important. Páez is currently with Ecuador at the tournament, although he remained an unused substitute in the team’s 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast.
The competition now represents an opportunity to change perceptions after two loan spells that have failed to fully ignite.