Kendry Páez

Ray Kendry Páez Andrade (born 4 May 2007) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ecuadorian Serie A club Independiente Del Valle and the Ecuador national team. He will join Premier League club Chelsea in July 2025.

Early career
Born in Guayaquil, Páez began his career with local side Barcelona's youth department Academia Alfaro Moreno at the age of five. Barcelona SC was offered the chance to register Páez at the age of eight, but the club did not sign him as it was "too hard for a president to pay for a player at this age". He later had a short stint at Emelec before moving to Patria, where he started to feature more regularly as a forward.

Independiente del Valle
Páez joined Independiente del Valle in 2018, aged 12. His performances for their youth team, including being named most outstanding player at the 2022 Next Generation Trophy in Salzburg, Austria, drew the attention of multiple clubs across Europe. He reportedly attracted interest from German club Borussia Dortmund, while English side Manchester United had an opening bid for Páez rejected in December 2022.

He was promoted to the Independiente del Valle's first team for the 2023 pre-season, at the age of fifteen. On 25 February 2021, he marked his highly anticipated professional debut with a goal; the third in a 3–1 Ecuadorian Serie A win over Mushuc Runa. Having received a lifted cut-back on the right-hand side of the penalty area from Anthony Landázuri, he instinctively floated the ball over the goalkeeper, Jorge Pinos, on the volley into the far corner of the goal. In doing so, he became the youngest debutant, and youngest goal-scorer, in the Ecuadorian top flight.

Chelsea
On 5 June 2023, it was announced that Paez would join Premier League club Chelsea after his 18th birthday, in the summer of 2025.

Youth
Paéz has represented Ecuador at under-17 level, scoring against both Argentina and Colombia. He was left out of Ecuador's under-20 squad for the 2023 South American U-20 Championship to facilitate his transition into the Independiente del Valle first team squad.

He was called up to the Ecuador under-17 squad again for the 2023 South American U-17 Championship in March 2023. In their first game, he provided an assist for Ecuador's second goal in their 2–2 comeback draw with Brazil - a through-ball from his own half which was then converted by teammate Geremy de Jesús. Páez was included in Ecuador's squad for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina; he was the youngest player to be included in the final squad of any of the participating nations in the tournament. On 26 May, Páez scored a goal in Ecuador's 9–0 win over Fiji, becoming the youngest player to score in the FIFA U20 World Cup.

Senior
On 5 June 2023, Páez was called up to the Ecuador senior squad for the first time.

On 12 September 2023, Páez made his debut with the senior team, starting in a 2–1 World Cup qualifier win over Uruguay and providing the assist for Félix Torres' match winning goal. Thus, he became the youngest player ever to represent La Tri and the second youngest South American to ever play international football behind Diego Maradona. On 12 October, he scored his first goal for Ecuador in a 2–1 win over Bolivia, becoming the youngest ever goalscorer in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers at the age of 16 years and 161 days.

On 29 May 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2024 Copa América. On 26 June, he scored a penalty in a 3–1 victory against Jamaica, becoming the second youngest scorer in the competition, aged 17 years and 53 days, following Johnnier Montaño.

Style of play
Described as a fearless dribbler, Paéz took inspiration from fellow Ecuadorian Gonzalo Plata and Argentine Lionel Messi, both of whom he watched as a child, to improve his own dribbling ability.

International
Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.