Boca Juniors youngster Aaron Anselmino has detailed how his move to Chelsea was quickly wrapped up, and his idea to emulate Argentina’s Walter Samuel.
Anselmino has been talking to Ole in Argentina about his career to date, which of course requires a conversation about Chelsea.
The 19-year-old joined the Blues in a €16m deal at the beginning of August after months of speculation about his future at Boca Juniors.
Several Premier League sides were believed to be keeping an eye on him and his progress for the Argentine giants, but Chelsea moved to sign him up ahead of them, adding him to their ever-expanding network of youngsters.
A deal was quickly wrapped up, but he’ll be spending this year on loan at Boca to continue his development at the Argentine club before moving to England.
And that means his focus remains on them for the time being, something he’s keen to emphasise even when discussing how quicky his Chelsea move was done.
“For now, I have my head set on Boca, on playing and winning here,” he said.
“It was all very fast. The clubs agreed, I traveled to England, they did the check-up, and I signed the papers.”
For the time being the focus is on getting more game time and developing away from the limelight, at least at Chelsea.
That might not quite as easy as it sounds at a club like Boca, though, where many Argentine legends have come through down the years and where the pressure is always high.
Anselmino is already considered a rising star and on the national team radar as well, with Ole even referring to him as the ‘new jewel of Argentine football’.
Whether that’s a tag he lives up to remains to be seen but it seems he knows what he needs to do, and that includes learning from past greats, such as Walter Samuel.
“The defender’s priority is to defend, you have to be firm and fulfil that role,” he added.
“I know that Boca had great players like Flaco Schiavi or Patrón Bermúdez. Adrian Gonzalez (Diego Martinez’s assistant in defence) tells me about Walter Samuel, who would go into a clash and kill you off.”
