Chelsea welcome future ‘great’ amid injury crisis with 19-year-old to ‘compete’ with first-team stars
Another new signing is on his way to Stamford Bridge as Todd Boehly continues to thrash on his Chelsea project in the aim of winning the Premier League.
After a turbulent opening two-and-a-half years in charge of the Blues, overseeing a period where six different men had been put in charge of the first team at different stages, Boehly seems to be having the last laugh right now with his club flying in fourth in the Premier League, with talk of winning the title ongoing in the background.
The west London club have invested heavily on a number of youth players and it may possibly work out contrasting with everyone’s beliefs earlier into the season.
Chelsea’s remarkable turnaround was something nobody had envisaged, having suffered consecutive 12th and sixth placed league finishes. The appointment of Enzo Maresca was also heavily questioned with his only managerial success having been to bring Leicester City back to the first tier.
The next player set to join Maresca’s squad is highly rated young Argentine Aaron Anselmino. The Blues paid just over £16m for the 19-year-old in the summer, with the plan to allow him to stay at Boca Junior for a year on loan, though thin defensive options due to injuries have meant Anselmino is set to cut his loan short and swap the blue of Boca for Chelsea.
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It is unclear whether Anselmino will join up with the Chelsea first team or will be sent out on another loan across Europe. However, injuries to Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile could open the door for a Chelsea debut before the end of the season.
Chelsea have a partnership with Ligue 1 club Strasbourg where Djordje Petrovic, Andrey Santos and Caleb Wiley are already on loan, so a move to France wouldn’t come with all the difficulties as any other loan would.
Boca president Riqueleme believes Anselmino is ready for the switch. He said: “He has developed a lot. He is on his way to being a great footballer. He is going to be a player for the national team. He is going to compete with the centre-backs.”
The youngster has had injury issues of his own this season however, having missed the last five league games with a hamstring injury.
Anselmino is yet to make his debut for his national team, but a rapid start to life in Europe could soon change that especially considering one of Argentina’s first choice centre-backs Cristian Romero has been sidelined with an injury.