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Alonso has clarified that there is no pathway to Chelsea's first team for Paez, as it stands. Xabi Alonso has confirmed Kendry Paez is not part of Chelsea’s first-team plans despite his summer loan recall. In January 2026, Paez joined Argentine side River Plate on a year-long loan deal, after previously spending the first half of the 2025/26 season on loan at Strasbourg. However, the Ecuador international struggled to establish himself as a regular at River Plate, making just 14 appearances across all competitions before eventually being removed from their first-team squad. This forced Chelsea to terminate the midfielder’s loan early this summer. Chelsea tried to find suitors for Paez, but they were unsuccessful. Robert Sanchez and Dario Essugo’s deadline-day loan moves to Serie A side Como and Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, respectively, meant Chelsea had filled the last of their six international loan quota and limited Paez to just domestic options. Paez is technically registered in Chelsea’s Under-21 Premier League player list, but Alonso has ruled out the young midfielder’s involvement this season. “At the moment, he's not part of the first-team squad,” the Chelsea manager responded when asked whether Paez would be reintegrated into the senior squad. On whether there is a possibility that this could change later in the season, Alonso added: “No, no, he’s not part of the plans.” What now for Paez? Paez, who joined Chelsea from Independiente del Valle in 2023 on a deal worth up to £17.3m, is now expected to be part of the club’s Under-21 side, rebranded as Cobham Next Gen. The 19-year-old may still leave in January if Chelsea find suitable suitors, but any loan move will remain limited to domestic options. The alternative is to sell him permanently, which seems unlikely since Chelsea are unlikely to profit from his sale as it stands. Paez has also been under scrutiny for his off-pitch behaviours that might have proved detrimental to his development. Back in 2024, then 16-year-old Paez was filmed in a strip club in New York during an international break with Ecuador. It caused controversy in his home country, with Ecuador's football governing body FEF having to release an official statement to address the issue. Fortunately for Paez, it did not severely hurt his international career. Evidently, he still made Ecuador’s squad for the 2026 World Cup, in which he featured once as a substitute. Paez is not the only player in a difficult situation at Chelsea, with Gabriel Slonina facing similar uncertainty, albeit to a much lesser extent. Slonina looked to leave Chelsea this summer but, just like Paez, failed to secure an exit. Unlike Paez, however, the young goalkeeper is still part of the first-team group, competing for the third goalkeeper spot with Teddy Sharman-Lowe.