Mauricio Pochettino pulled out all the stops for incoming Chelsea wonderkid Kendry Paez when welcoming the 16-year-old midfielder to the club. The Blues boss gave Paez a tour of Cobham training complex as he took a leaf out of Marcelo Bielsa’s book for wooing stars.
Back in June, Chelsea agreed upon a deal to bring Paez to Stamford Bridge on his 18th birthday, in the summer of 2025. Until then he will continue his development at his boyhood club Independiente del Valle, who play in the Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, Ecuador’s premier division.
Paez was in the stands for Chelsea’s recent Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle United alongside Senegal Under-17 star Pape Daouda Diong, who is expected to be joining the west Londoners next June.
The Ecuadorian international is touted as one of the most exciting young prospects in world football and has already made five appearances for his senior national team despite only turning 16 in May.
It is therefore no surprise that Pochettino rolled out the red carpet when he walked through the doors at Cobham. Pochettino received similar treatment when Biesla enticed him into joining Newell’s Old Boys during his time as a scout for the side back in the 1980s.
Pochettino recalls how Bielsa personally visited his family home and told his parents he would become a footballer. “It’s an anecdote that comes from 1987 at a time when Marcelo was going about all of Argentina scouting for players,” said Pochettino.
“He knocked and my parents answered the door, of course, they didn’t know who he was. He said he was from Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario and could he see the boy? ‘Of course’ said my parents, at one o’clock in the morning.
“They came up to my room, lifted up the duvet and Marcelo said ‘he has the makings of a footballer’. That’s how it stayed, then came my international debut in Holland [in 1999] where he’s the coach of the side.”
Bielsa later handed Pochettino his debut for Argentina and managed him at Newell’s Old Boys and briefly Espanyol. Pochettino will be hoping he can strike up a similar partnership with Paez in years to come.
