Where does Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin go from here?
By Udit Damle
Every summer a bunch of youngsters leave Cobham in hopes of getting more minutes at the professional level and impressing the decision-makers at Chelsea. This season, one of those players was the Blues’ wonderkid, Tino Anjorin. Many Chelsea fans may be familiar with Anjorin due to his sporadic appearances in the teamsheet over the last 18 months. He has been quite popular among the fanbase, which has been rooting for him ever since his teenage years. Anjorin’s height, strong build and ability on the ball even attracted comparisons with fan-favorite Ruben Loftus-Cheek. What excited the supporters even more was when Thomas Tuchel was pictured talking to Anjorin individually in his first training session at the club.
Subsequently, many fans were surprised to see an option to buy clause included in his summer loan deal to Lokomotiv Moscow. Fast forward five months and his loan deal has been cut short after he picked up an injury. The Russian club’s director, Ralf Rangnick, who pushed for his signing at Lokomotiv Moscow has joined Manchester United. A few clubs from the top flight—including Southampton—have inquired about him, but his future at the moment still looks very uncertain.
Logically speaking, three options should be explored to get his professional career back on track:
1. Sell with a buy-back clause
According to many reports, Southampton was looking to sign Anjorin on a permanent deal alongside Armando Broja in the winter transfer window. While a deal for Broja is avoidable considering he has scored more goals than many of Chelsea’s current strikers, the Blues should be open to selling Anjorin at the right price, but with a buy-back clause. Tino Livramento departed Chelsea to join Southampton in the summer with a buy-back clause included in his deal and that seems to be the new normal given FIFA’s updated loan regulations.
Any deal for Anjorin should be constructed similarly to the one for Livramento. While the new rules limiting the number of loan deals to six in and six out kick in from 2024, and Anjorin would not be counted in that number considering he is a homegrown talent, Chelsea is continuing to cut down the number in the infamous “loan army”. Marina Granovskaia has sold Tammy Abraham and Livramento recently buy-back clauses and she should consider offloading Anjorin with one too.