Aaron Anselmino: Chelsea’s Newest Gem at the Back By Sebastian Ferro
Date of Birth: 29/04/2005 (19 years old)
Nationality: Argentinian
Club: Chelsea FC
Youth: Boca Juniors
Position: Center Back
Height: 186cm (6 ft. 1 in)
Weight: 80 kg (176 lbs)
Strong Foot: Right
Market Value: € 8.00m (Transfermarkt)
Similar Players: Cristian Romero, Eder Militao
Tournament Participation: Argentine Liga Profesional, Copa Argentina, Copa De La Liga, Copa Sudamericana
Achievements: N/A
Player History
Aaron Anselmino is a 19-year-old central defender who plays for Argentina’s Boca Juniors. Anselmino is a graduate of Boca Juniors academy, having joined the club at the age of 12, and made his debut for the first team in the 2023 season at just 18 years of age. For Anselmino to be featuring for a club with the stature of Boca Juniors at such a young age he has already generated massive amounts of local and national hype. However, his reputation exploded when it became known he was signing for Chelsea FC in the English Premier League in August 2024. Despite his high potential and renown domestically and internationally, he has yet to feature for Argentina for the first team or at any youth level. Regardless, it should be no surprise then that Anselmino has the potential to be an elite defender at the highest levels of European football and will be featuring for Argentina sooner rather than later.
Playing Style
Aaron Anselmino is a tall and composed central defender who possesses good pace, tackling and athleticism despite his young age. He uses his physical attributes to his advantage, and is very comfortable starting the build-up with short passes and rarely plays deep or progressive passes. He is right footed but is comfortable enough with both feet to evade the high press from the opposition. While he rarely makes a flashy play during offensive build-up, you can count on him to stay composed and make the right pass. He is notably mature despite his young age and is why he is admired so highly internationally, despite his few first team appearances for Boca. Defensively he is a very complete defender and is assured in winning duels and positioning himself to make a play to win the ball. He is physically imposing with a tall frame and given his young age he may get taller and fill into his build. Additionally, he has great athleticism and recovery pace to chase down the opposition. This allows Boca to play with a high line comfortably knowing that Anselmino can hunt down a defender and they will not be exposed. He is a confident defender and relishes diving into a tackle or winning the ball in an aerial duel, and notably has good reactions and anticipation to time the tackle. However, if he can improve in one area it’s his timing and decision making. While he is a strong tackler sometimes he can be too eager to dive into a tackle when staying in position may instead be the stronger option. But this is something that will improve over time and he will only learn by getting more minutes this season.
Game Footage
Anselmino is a monster at set pieces and his large frame, strong heading and good positioning get him an assist during this deep free kick routine.
A mature defender, Anselmino marks the runner well and makes an interception on the cross coming from the wing before it reaches the forward.
An aggressive defender, Anselmino takes no chances and towers over the defender in order to clear the ball and win the header.
Strengths: pace, tackling, anticipation, tenacity, determination, reactions, aerial duels, athleticism
Points of Improvement: timing, decision making, discipline
What’s Next?
Aaron Anselmino has become increasingly admired in South America and Europe for his exploits despite featuring very little at the first team level. At the time of writing, Anselmino only has 18 professional appearances for his club and has never played for his home country of Argentina at any level. Despite his limited playing time and young age, a transfer to Chelsea FC in the English Premier League has already been agreed for 16.5 m Euros with a loan back to Argentina agreed until the end of the 24/25 English season. While Chelsea FC have not been a beacon of stability over the past few seasons and some of their transfer spending has been reckless I believe that Anselmino will prove good in the seasons to come. Chelsea FC were not the only club interested in his services and that was with even fewer professional appearances at the time of his transfer to the club. Many of his strengths such as his pace, athleticism and height made him stand out at the youth level and he has quickly adapted to the Liga Professional of Argentina. For such a young player he has looked comfortable and composed in the back line despite loving a tackle, and his timing and decision making will improve as he gets regular minutes. As with all young players getting minutes in the first team is the most important thing for their development and staying in Argentina this year was the best decision for his future as, despite all of the hype, he has made very few actual appearances. Given Chelsea’s massive network it would not be surprising to see Anselmino on loan again after the current European season, most likely for RC Strasbourg in France if he continues to impress in Argentina. Regardless he is an exciting talent and I hope it will not be long before he features under the bright lights for a premier European side, ideally at Chelsea.
Player Potential: 9/10