What happened when Chelsea youngster Kendry Paez asked to swap shirts with Lionel Messi last night

There are not many more promising talents in world football at this moment than Chelsea youngster Kendry Paez. Despite the fact that he is not able to join up with the Blues until next summer, there is already hope and belief that he can be a crucial player in the future for them.

Paez’s talent has already been shown in the fact that he is a regular for the senior Ecuador side alongside club-record signing Moises Caicedo. He has already set a number of South American football records in the early stages of his career, some of which set by the likes of Pele.

The youngster was back in action last night as he lined up with the Number 10 shirt against Argentina in a friendly match where the World Cup holders won 1-0. This saw him come up against arguably the best player to ever wear that shirt number in Lionel Messi, who was a second half substitute as well as Enzo Fernandez.

Kendry Paez and Lionel Messi swap shirts

At the end of the game, Paez approached the Inter Miami man in an attempt to swap shirts, and a video on ‘CFC Ecuadorians’ Twitter shows the two swapping shirts and exchanging a handshake and some words.

Leo Messi exchanging shirts with the GOAT pic.twitter.com/RiCCNYRLHP — CFC Ecuadorians (@CFCEcuador25) June 10, 2024

Paez has potential to be a superstar

The fact that the greatest player in the world was happy to do this shows there is a serious amount of belief in the Blues youngster that he can have a super career in the game. It was reported earlier this season that Chelsea are planning at this stage to loan out Paez to Strasbourg , with them noting how well Andrey Santos did on loan there in the second half of the season.

However, the ability he has already shown suggests that he could well have a role to play straight away at Stamford Bridge under whoever is in charge at the time he comes in.