Chelsea confirm Aaron Anselmino first-team plan after loan recall from Boca Juniors | OneFootball

Young defender has joined up with Enzo Maresca’s squad amid a centre-back shortage

Chelsea have no immediate plans to send young defender Aaron Anselmino out on loan again following his recall from Boca Juniors.

Anselmino signed for the Blues from Boca last summer in a deal worth a reported £17million but he immediately returned to the Argentine outfit to continue his development.

The centre-back was a regular throughout the second half of the Argentine season until picking up a hamstring problem that saw him miss the final five league games of the campaign.

The new season starts later this month but Anselmino will play no part in it having been recalled to Chelsea.

Anselmino joined Chelsea from Boca last summer in a deal worth a reported £17m

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Enzo Maresca is short at centre-back at present, with Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana both sidelined, but it understood that Anselmino is unlikely to play a significant first-team role at the moment.

Instead, Chelsea’s decision to bring him back to Cobham is intended to help the 19-year-old settle into the club set-up and begin to adapt to English football.

Speaking ahead of the youngster’s departure, Argentina great Juan Roman Riquelme, who is now Boca president, was effusive in his praise.

“He has developed a lot,” Riquelme told ESPN. “With the growth, the head that he has and the desire to learn that he shows, 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.”