Transfer Centre

Premier League giants 'keeping tabs on Ecuadorian starlet Kendry Paez'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 18 February 2023

A host of the biggest clubs in the Premier League and Europe are reportedly keeping tabs on highly-rated 15-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder Kendry Paez.

A number of the Premier League's biggest clubs are reportedly among the parties tracking the progress of 15-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder Kendry Paez.

The youngster starred in the Next Generation Trophy held in Salzburg last year, helping his club side Independiente del Valle to the final of the competition.

90min reports that his performances in the Red Bull-organised tournament caught the eye of a host of clubs around Europe, including as many as a dozen in the Premier League.

Manchester United have reportedly already seen an approach for Paez turned down, while Chelsea are also rumoured to have failed with an early bid for the teenager.

In addition to those two clubs, the report claims that Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United are all among the 12 Premier League clubs keeping tabs on Paez.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pictured on December 26, 2022 © Reuters

Brighton & Hove Albion, who have moved to sign a number of young Ecuadorian players in recent years, are also one of the interested parties.

Many of the highest-profile clubs from across Europe are also understood to have joined the Premier League teams in sending scouts to watch Paez in recent months.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have all been keeping an eye on his progress, as have a number of their domestic rivals.

The report claims that Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Atalanta BC have scouted Paez in the past six months too.

FIFA rules dictate that Paez would not be able to complete a move to Europe until he turns 18 in 2025, but clubs are still keen to tie down a future deal for the highly-rated starlet.

Palmeiras' Endrick celebrates scoring their second goal on October 25, 2022 © Reuters

Real Madrid have made a habit of securing such deals for Brazilian youngsters in recent years, with the latest example seeing them strike an agreement for Endrick to move to the Bernabeu in 2024.

Independiente also sold Moises Caicedo to Brighton following a competitive race for his signature in 2021, although the club are expected to demand a much higher fee than the £4.5m they accepted for Caicedo on that occasion.

The Brighton midfielder was subsequently the subject of a £70m bid from Arsenal during the January transfer window, but Brighton refused to sell despite the prospect of making a profit of more than £65m in less than two years on a player who publicly declared his desire to leave.

The bids that have arrived for Paez so far are understood to be worth more than double the £4.5m Independiente accepted for Caicedo, but the Ecuadorian outfit have no interest in agreeing a sale this year.

The central midfielder, who was born in 2007, is yet to make his senior debut for the club but has scored three goals in five appearances for the Ecuador Under-17s side already.