The general manager of Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle has confirmed that the club are close to striking an agreement to sell 15-year-old wonderkid Kendry Paez.

90min reported in February that Paez had attracted significant interest from a number of Premier League clubs, with Chelsea understood to have moved closest to striking a deal by lodging a bid for the teenage midfielder.

Chelsea have remained in talks with Independiente del Valle ever since, looking to finalise a deal for a player who is widely seen to be one of South America’s brightest young prospects.

Now, Independiente del Valle chief Santiago Morales has confirmed that a deal has almost been reached to sell Paez, although he declined to mention with which club he has been speaking.

“There are no pre-contracts,” Morales told Mach Deportes. “The interested clubs continue to find out how to negotiate with Kendry Paez.

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“There is a club with which we are in advanced conversations and we agree on the value of Kendry Paez.”

Morales also backed Paez to make a significant impact in this season’s Copa Libertadores, with the Ecuadorian starlet’s stock continuing to rise.

“Surely Kendry will play in the Copa Libertadores and don’t be surprised if he plays a great game against Corinthians,” he added.

Chelsea have made an effort to recruit a number of the game’s top youngsters this season and have not shied away from paying significant fees to land their targets, with the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesar Casadei costing close to £40m combined.

Paez is a key target for Chelsea’s new recruitment team and it appears as though they are close to getting a deal done.

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On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs examines what Thomas Tuchel’s move to Bayern Munich could mean for Chelsea.

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It’s not just the Premier League that has a tantalising title race on its hands. Over in the Women’s Super League, the current top four are separated by just three points.

Emma Hayes’ Chelsea have long been considered the favourites to win their fourth consecutive title, but they were leapfrogged in the table by Manchester City after they beat the Blues 2-0 in Manchester last weekend. City’s first victory over Hayes’ side since 2017 ignited their title hopes and they currently sit level on points with Man Utd at the top.

Chelsea, however, are just a point adrift having played a game less, while Arsenal aren’t out of the running either. The Gunners, who have also played one less game than the two Manchester clubs, are three points off the summit in fourth.

FiveThirtyEight uses its Forecasts and Soccer Power Index (SPI) ratings to predict every fixture throughout the WSL season. Here’s who they think will end the 2022/23 season as champions.

FiveThirtyEight don’t expect the table to expand too much before the end of the season, but they do project Chelsea to win the league by a three-point margin.

The Blues are expected to claim 16 points from their last seven outings with their only remaining fixture against a fellow title rival arriving on the penultimate matchday of the season against Arsenal.

The two London clubs also have the Champions League to consider, but the supercomputer doesn’t believe their European ventures will derail their domestic campaigns. Arsenal are projected to finish level on points with Man City in third.

Despite their huge win over Chelsea, the computer predicts City to claim just nine points from their remaining six games. They do have the disadvantage of playing both Arsenal and Man Utd away from home before the end of the season.

As for the current leaders, the computer projects a bright enough end to the campaign (12 points from six games) but that won’t be enough to stave off Chelsea’s threat.

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The WSL title race will take its next twists and turns at the start of April, with Man Utd the first on the contenders in action when they visit the south coast to face Brighton.

The clash between Arsenal and Manchester City in Sunday’s early kick off is undoubtedly the game of the weekend, while Chelsea will be hoping to make up some lost ground when they travel to Aston Villa.

Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino would both be open to succeeding Antonio Conte at Tottenham, but would prefer to wait until the summer to decide their next respective moves, 90min understands.

Spurs confirmed on Sunday night that they had mutually agreed to part ways with Conte following a dismal run of results, notably capping off his tenure by labelling his players as ‘selfish’ in an explosive press conference after drawing 3-3 with Southampton.

Conte’s former assistant, Cristian Stellini, has been placed in interim charge until the end of the season with the hunt for a new permanent boss underway – this search could be complicated by FIFA’s decision to enforce managing director of football Fabio Paratici’s footballing ban, subject to appeal.

Two of Spurs’ targets are currently out of work, with Nagelsmann recently having departed Bayern Munich and Pochettino unemployed since leaving Paris Saint-Germain last year.

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However, sources have told 90min that both of them would prefer to wait until the summer to decide their futures.

Nagelsmann would like to manage in the Premier League one day but it is by no means a priority for him right now.

An interesting wrinkle in Spurs’ potential pursuits of Nagelsmann and Pochettino is that both are holding out to see whether the Real Madrid job will become available.

Carlo Ancelotti’s future at the Santiago Bernabeu remains uncertain following a limp defence of their La Liga title. 90min understands that even retaining the UEFA Champions League may not be enough to save his job.

Real Madrid have been linked to Nagelsmann and Pochettino in the past, but were concerned about their records in regards to winning titles. However, these doubts have been alleviated after leading their respective sides to Bundesliga and Ligue 1 glory.

Beyond Nagelsmann and Pochettino, another candidate high on Spurs’ shortlist of candidates is Luis Enrique, who has been out of a job since December when he left the Spain job following their 2022 FIFA World Cup exit.

Enrique’s last club job saw him spend three years at Barcelona from 2014 to 2017. He notably won the treble in his first season back at Camp Nou and won at least one trophy every year of his reign.

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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!

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