Chelsea wonderkid Kendry Paez's father reveals he snubbed transfer to Borussia Dortmund to move to Stamford Bridge

Chelsea wonderkid Kendry Paez's father has revealed that the youngster turned down Borussia Dortmund in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge.

The 16-year-old will make a move to Stamford Bridge when he turns 18 in two years' time from Independiente del Valle in Ecuador after the Blues forked out a hefty fee of €20m (£17.2m), including bonuses. The creative midfielder stole the limelight by becoming the youngest-ever player – at 16 years and 22 days – to score a goal at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina, which helped Ecuador to reach the last-16 of the competition.

Following his heroics on the global stage he had no shortage of suitors and was even close to signing for German giants Dortmund. However, his father, Ray Paez, revealed that everything changed when Chelsea swooped in for the youngster.

Everything was ready for Kendry to go to Borussia Dortmund, Paez told Las Voces Del Futbol. Chelsea showed up again, we talked to their representative and he signed with them. We were going to sign with Dortmund in Germany but everything changed, he added.

Paez is tipped to be a future superstar as the attacking midfielder made his first-team breakthrough for Independiente del Valle at just 15 years old which drew the attention of some of the biggest European clubs. Paez will continue his development at the Ecuadorian outfit in the short term and will move to the British capital in 2025 to don the famed blue jersey.