Unlike many other young talents in South America of late, Aaron Anselmino has had a quiet rise.
Born in 2005 in Bernard Larroudé, a small town in the province of La Pampa that has only two thousand inhabitants, Anselmino first stood out as a midfielder in Juventud Unida de Banderaló. But when he joined Boca Juniors at the age of 12, they moved him to centre-back, and he has since never moved from that position.
He made his debut for Xeneize's reserve team, under Mariano Herrón, in a game against Central Córdoba in February 2023. Less than five months later, on June 10th, only hours after signing his first professional contract, he made his first team debut in a 1-1 draw against Lanús in La Bombonera.
Due to the large number of injuries, Boca Juniors had to call up several youth players to face the Granate, with the young defender being one of them. The funny thing is, Anselmino was unknown to the vast majority of fans at that time. However, it didn't take long for him to impress. Two weeks after his debut, he was granted his first start in the match against Racing on matchday 10 of the Argentine League Cup.
The Argentine was promoted to the Xeneize first team at the start of the 2024 season and European clubs soon became acquainted with the defender, as were football enjoyers worldwide. Everton, Milan and Manchester United were some of the clubs linked to the ascending Argentine. However, ultimately, it was Chelsea who managed to sign him.
The six-time Premier League champions announced the signing of Anselmino on August 8th, 2024. He signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge, but went back to La Bombonera to continue his development on loan. Chelsea had the option to recall him in the 2024/25 winter transfer window, and that's what the Blues did.
The defender arrives at Cobham amidst a surprising season for Enzo Maresca's young team. However, some problems are still evident in the Italian manager’s system, including defensive solidity. While Anselmino isn't arriving to be the saviour, he can offer plenty at his new club.
Valuable traits for a defender
The 19-year-old plays as centre-back. He stands at 6'1'' (186cm) and is right-footed, despite showing a good ability to work with his weaker foot.
Anselmino is a tall, composed player who possesses good pace, athleticism and physicality, which also make him a versatile defender.
He uses his physical attributes to his advantage, and is very comfortable in the build-up, mostly with short passes. However, he also has great ability at through balls and switches. His composure shows in the attacking build-up phase, as he likes to scan the pitch before making his decisions.
When under pressure, Anselmino isn't afraid to act quickly. His physicality plays a big part in this as he's able to use his body strength and orientation to evade pressure. In the last year, the young defender averaged 0.93 progressive carries and 0.41 successful take-ons per 90 minutes.
His spatial awareness, technicality and maturity also show, as he's got the ability to find teammates in space to carry on plays. At first sight, his 2.78 average of progressive passes per 90 may not stand out. However, the quality of those passes is high: the centre-back stands out for his shot and goal-creating actions (GCA).
To give an even bigger picture of Anselmino's importance in this manner, he was Boca Juniors' joint leader in assists (3) while averaging 0.31 GCA per 90 in 2024. This GCA average puts him in the 99th percentile for defenders in FBref’s Men’s Next 14 Competitions metrics.
Defensively, he is a very complete player and is assertive in his positioning and dueling. Because of his attributes, Anselmino is able to play under different roles and pitch zones in central defense.
His great vision and intelligence are as big of a part of his off-the-ball as of his on-the-ball contributions: he is able to anticipate play in order to intercept passes and block shots. He also displays great athleticism and recovery pace to chase down the opposition.
Anselmino can also be deployed as a holding centre-back, maintaining his position in the defensive third in order to cover for his CB pairing and playing a key role in assuring defensive equilibrium for his side.
In either role, Anselmino plays confidently and relishes diving into tackles. He has a 65% success rate in tackles, having averaged 2.68 tackles and tackles won 1.75 per 90 in the last year, being in the 98th and 99th percentile respectively. He notably has a good ability to time the tackle, making them in a very clean way.
The relish is evident in his aerial game as well, though his contribution in the air is relatively modest. In 2024, he had a 50% success rate in aerial duels, averaging 3.3 aerial duels contested per 90. At any rate, because of his tactical and athletic abilities, he is still able to exert influence up in the air, as the video below shows.
Time will come
Anselmino is notably very mature despite his young age. He is also physically imposing with a tall frame, and at just 19, there’s a possibility he could grow taller and further fill out his build. With that said, given his young age and little experience at the professional level, he still has a few weaknesses in his game. But they are fixable, and the fixing should happen with time.
For one, further physical growth could be pivotal for him to have a better presence and success in the air.
A confident and self-assured tackler, the defender can be too eager to dive into tackles. As a result, at times, he breaks away from the line and steps up to chase and pressure the opposition. This posture opens up space behind his back, and in defensively exposed teams or in sides that play with higher lines, it leads to great goal-scoring opportunities for the opposition.
Another aspect in which the centre-back has room for improvement is his first touch. His ability to quickly react and to read play well masks this deficiency to some degree. However, at times, he misses his first touch and gets himself into trouble, especially when pressured. Those mistakes, so far, haven't led to any opposition goals. But, as he is on the verge of playing in English football, where intensity is higher, this could be a bigger issue.
These are weaknesses that, by being well worked on by the coaching staff, are easily corrected, especially given that Anselmino is just 19 years old and only has a single full professional season under his belt. Not to mention that, training and playing alongside imposing defenders with more experience, he should learn faster.
Conversely, a matter that should also be monitored is his injury history. Throughout 2024, the defender suffered three hamstring injuries that sidelined him for 27 (out of 58) matches during the year.
To provide context, Boca Juniors did face a severe injury crisis during their last season, which could point out to the fact that Anselmino's injuries were more related to the way the club was working other than the player's health. Needless to say, however, how important it is for Chelsea to take their newest player's history into account and work to ensure he's available and at 100%.
Fitting the Mold: Anselmino's Potential in Maresca's Setup
Build-up
A major aspect of Enzo Maresca’s tactical ideas is building from the back. When starting from a low build-up, the goalkeeper moves up into the backline creating a back four. When building-up with higher lines, Chelsea set up in a 3-2-5 formation, with the goalkeeper moving up a bit further, but not joining the back line.
When building up from the back, Maresca wants to beat the press by finding midfielders in the half-space, while when the build-up is done a bit higher, the aim is to disrupt the opposition’s defense, especially through the asymmetry between the pivot pairing, and create passing lines.
A massive aspect of Maresca’s high possession build-up is the position defenders hold high up the pitch. This is because the team’s defensive transition is based on counter-pressing. So, having more players in central areas makes it difficult for the opposition to work in possession and helps win the ball back.
By keeping relatively short distances between players in the higher back line, it makes it easier for the team to find solutions with short passes when they retake possession while the opposition isn't able to push their lines higher.
Under this tactical system, centre-backs are required to be active on-the-ball as well as play a major role in defensive transitions. Anselmino's vision and passing ability surely help in this way. He is able to play short and control possession, but also capable of finding through balls and making switches.
Defence
The base defensive organisation Maresca’s Chelsea uses is 4-2-3-1. In a low-press, they tend to set up in a mid-block, aiming at closing the center and forcing opposition to play wide. The main idea is to stay compact, especially by closing the space between the midfield and the backline.
When playing with higher lines in defense, compactness is also the pivotal aspect. While it compresses the space available for the opposition to work on, it can also be an aspect to be explored by the opponents. In fact, at times, Maresca's side have been exposed by long and through balls directed at the space between the backline and the goalkeeper, which highlights the importance of recovery, an aspect in which Anselmino stands out.
On the other hand, when successful, a higher backline is usually able to win the ball back quicker as it disrupts the opposition’s attacking build-up. So, when Chelsea’s attacking transition starts the backline and the midfield are closer, creating numerical superiority and facilitating quicker transitions from the defense to attack.
This requires that defenders have good pace and positional awareness, aspects Anselmino is praised for. Maintaining a compact and cohesive defensive structure also demands great communication and coordination between the players. In spite of his young age and of playing alongside experienced defenders such as Marcos Rojo, at Boca Juniors, the 19-year-old didn't shy away from the responsibility of speaking up to organize his sector.
Joining a younger squad at Chelsea, this willingness to communicate on the pitch will prove different not only from an individual perspective, but also in a team one, as most players are still developing and as Maresca seeks to smooth out the rough edges in his tactical system and its translation in actual game circumstances.
Aaron Anselmino’s future
In his brief senior career so far, Aaron Anselmino has shown great maturity, technical quality and tactical awareness, translated on the pitch by a number of attributes that he already displays at a great level at 19 years of age.
Not only that, but the main characteristics of his playing style seem to be a good fit to Maresca's system, based on fluid formations, quick transitions, and intelligent positional play.
As Chelsea continue to evolve under Maresca, it is evident that his ideas are taking shape, helping develop a team of young players capable of controlling games and exploiting opponents’ weaknesses, even though the Blues started the new year in the midst of a spike in the number of players injured and not-so-regular performances.
For that matter, the Argentine centre-back doesn't arrive at Stamford Bridge to be a savior. However, he can surely take on responsibility and establish himself as a solid squad player given his current set of abilities.
As he gains experience, he should follow his path and fulfill his elite potential. Just like that, he should make it to the very top of Chelsea's defensive hierarchy, where he should stay for many years to come.
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