Aaron Anselmino has joined Borussia Dortmund on loan from Chelsea, the club have confirmed. The defender will spend the season in Germany as he seeks regular first-team football.
Chelsea signed Anselmino from Boca Juniors in Argentina for more than £14million last summer but does not have a place in Enzo Maresca’s squad. The loan means Chelsea only have one international loan spot left for the rest of the window.
The Blues have already sent Mamadou Sarr, Kendry Paez, and Mike Penders out to RC Strasbourg with Deivid Washington continuing his 18 month stay back at Santos. Chelsea can complete an unlimited number of domestic loans, although there are limits on how many players can go to a single club.
Anselmino was recalled from Boca in January as emergency centre-back cover following injuries in the back line. He did not play as Trevoh Chalobah also returned from Crystal Palace, where he has become a staple in Maresca’s team ever since.
Unlike others seeking a loan, Anselmino was included in Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad and made his senior debut against Benfica in the Last-16 as a late substitute. The 20-year-old has only played 24 adult matches to date but is viewed as highly rated defender able to pass from both feet.
Speaking prior to Friday’s 5-1 win over West Ham, Maresca praised Anselmino for his work at Cobham but admitted he needed to go and get minutes under his belt away from Chelsea. “Aaron is training with us,” he said at the time.
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“He’s training very hard. He’s a fantastic boy. Good player, but he needs to play games. He needs to go, he needs to play games. So he’s another player that is waiting for a solution.”
That solution is Dortmund. Anselmino follows Carney Chukwuemeka, who had his permanent move back to Germany announced on Tuesday. Neither player will count towards Chelsea’s attempts to balance their squad cost with UEFA as they were not part of the A-list for the knockout stages.
Chelsea continue to work towards multiple deals both in and out of Stamford Bridge in the remaining days of the transfer window. They are still keen on signing both Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons but are also looking at Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez.
For anymore arrivals to be completed, they will need to sell players. Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are at the forefront of plans whilst Axel Disasi is also set to leave.
