Liverpool have begun talks with the agents of 15-year-old Ecuadorian wonderkid Kendry Paez over a move to Anfield.
That’s according to 90min, who claim that the Reds have already ‘registered their interest’ in Paez. They’re reportedly not the only ones to do so, though. Four other Premier League sides including Chelsea and Manchester United are said to have been in contact with Paez’s representatives, too.
Meanwhile, as many as a dozen more sides from England are reportedly keeping an eye on the teenager. In addition, a number of top clubs from across Europe are also claimed to be heavily scouting Paez.
This comes after the youngster reportedly impressed in the ‘Next Generation Trophy’ last year. Only turning fifteen in May, Paez has been added to the Independiente del Valle first team for the upcoming Ecuadorian league season.
With the attacking midfielder garnering a burgeoning reputation, Independiente are said to have rejected bids of around £9m so far.
Indeed, it’s claimed that his club have no intention of selling Paez this year. As FIFA rules will prevent him moving to Europe until 2025, they’re in no rush to sell.
Liverpool wising up in the South American market
We won’t claim to know a great deal about Kendry Paez – he is only fifteen after all.
But what is clear is that Liverpool should be working on these kinds of deals moving forward. Brighton have very much shown the way in the Premier League with signing young players from South America.
Wolves and Southampton have both followed suit recently with the signings of Joao Gomes and Carlos Alcaraz respectively. Chelsea brought in Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama as well. It’s becoming more common to cut out the middle man.
For Liverpool, they don’t usually tend to go ‘straight to source’ from Brazil, Argentina and the rest. Instead, the Reds will often wait until the player has had time to grow in a medium sized club before making the next step.
More often than not, this is probably fine. But with their rivals starting to get wise to the benefits of taking calculated gambles on these talents, Liverpool should be doing the same.
In Paez’s case, they already have a handy reference point. Back in 2021, Liverpool didn’t want to pay the £4.5m to extract Moises Caicedo from Independiente del Valle. Had they done so, they could have saved £50m or £60m in the transfer market. That scenario alone should give them confidence that taking a chance on the likes of Paez can be well worth it.