Chelsea’s breakthrough star – Tino Anjorin
https://theathletic.com/2034881/2020/09/02/chelsea-breakthrough-star-tino-anjorin-frank-lampard/
If 2019 will be remembered as the year Chelsea finally embraced its all-conquering academy, 2020 is shaping up to be something much more familiar in the Roman Abramovich era. A spectacular spending spree, targeting some of Europe’s most coveted players, is raising expectations at Stamford Bridge back towards the level of serious domestic and European contention.
There is every reason to think that Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour and Fikayo Tomori will continue to figure prominently in Frank Lampard’s thoughts, even as the transfer market supercharges his attempts to build the next great Chelsea team. For the next wave of youngsters across the road at Cobham, slightly too young to benefit from the happy confluence of a transfer ban and a manager inclined to trust youth, circumstances going into 2020-21 look less favourable in the short term.
But if we are to witness another Chelsea academy prospect break through in a meaningful way this season, the smart money would be on it being Tino Anjorin. Sources have told The Athletic that unless a loan offer emerges in this window that is too good to turn down, he is inclined to remain around the first-team squad and compete for minutes on the pitch with Lampard’s high-profile signings and established academy graduates.
It is a mark of just how highly rated Anjorin is throughout Europe in youth circles that he was included in the long list for the 2020 edition of Tuttosport’s prized Golden Boy award despite playing just 42 senior minutes for Chelsea last season, including an eye-catching cameo in a 7-1 rout of Grimsby Town in the third round of the Carabao Cup in September. Six months later, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 4-0 home win over Everton, when he was one sure touch away from a goal.
Gilmour, enjoying the final minutes of his second midfield masterclass in the space of a week, won the ball deep in the Everton half and darted towards the penalty area. He showed the presence of mind to draw Michael Keane towards him before sliding the ball to his left, where Anjorin was hovering unmarked. The 18-year-old, whose first contribution to the match a few minutes earlier had been to try to volley in a dropping ball from 30 yards, couldn’t dream of a better chance to score.
Instead, his first touch allowed the ball to drift away to his left, moments before Djibril Sidibe wiped him out with a clean sliding recovery challenge that doubled as a classic “Welcome to the Premier League” moment. On the evidence of Anjorin’s broader body of work throughout the youth levels, it’s hard to imagine defenders being granted such opportunities for redemption in the future.
Watch any compilation of his goals and what strikes you is not simply the composure of the finishing, but also the variety. Anjorin scores virtually every type of goal from any range with either foot, though it’s fair to say he hasn’t yet shown himself a dominant aerial presence despite his muscular 6ft 1in frame. He specialises in driving into the box with the ball at his feet or arriving there without it at the right time and place to get himself a scoring chance. Once there, he generally favours precision over power.
Much like most of Lampard’s “Class of ’19”, Anjorin started his professional football journey at Cobham. He was signed as an eight-year-old after being spotted by Graham Castle, Chelsea’s scout on the south coast who was also responsible for bringing Mount and Dominic Solanke to the club. Anjorin’s father Sheriff, a former academy prospect at Brighton and non-League footballer, approached the choice of which club to entrust with his talented son cautiously, but was won over by the quality of the facilities and the impressive operation run by Neil Bath.
The moment that marked Anjorin out internationally as one of Europe’s elite prospects came much later, with England Under-18s against Russia at the Limoges Tournament in 2018. Receiving the ball on the right flank against Russia, he comfortably shielded it from his marker, worked his way infield and then lashed a shot with his left foot into the top far corner from 25 yards. He ended the competition as top scorer and was voted best player, the star of a victorious squad that featured Mason Greenwood and Bukayo Saka.
Injuries have slowed his lightning progress towards senior football since. Anjorin, like Ruben Loftus-Cheek before him, had to adjust to a sudden growth spurt in his mid-teens and is still learning how best to manage his imposing body. He employed a personal fitness consultant and followed a bespoke workout programme over the summer of 2019 to ensure he would come into the new season in prime condition, having missed a chunk of the previous campaign with a back injury.
Chelsea have been careful to manage Anjorin’s workload, employing the lessons learnt from Loftus-Cheek’s lengthy ordeal with injuries. But he has still been dominant in every youth competition and far more involved in first-team training under Lampard than predecessor Maurizio Sarri, who only called him up for one session during his year at Cobham.
The comparison with Loftus-Cheek is immediately obvious, but reductive. Anjorin is a very different player with a unique set of attributes that makes him capable of dominating the heart of midfield, imposing himself in the penalty area or thriving on either wing. His skill, strength and speed at such a young age — he isn’t 19 until November — suggest he has the rare potential to blossom into a complete modern footballer.
It is not even entirely clear yet what Anjorin’s best position will prove to be at senior level. Such versatility can be a detriment to development, as Ethan Ampadu has found over the last two years, but in this particular situation, the consequence may be more positive; Lampard has so many midfield and attacking options at his disposal now that Anjorin’s ability to fit in different possible combinations can only be preferable to needing a specific set of tactical circumstances to get a chance.
Anjorin believes he will get one. His decision to sign a new five-year contract, announced in June, was a statement of faith in Lampard as much as Chelsea to manage the next stages of his development. He can also take plenty of inspiration from the huge strides that Mount, Abraham and Hudson-Odoi have made over the last 18 months. The presence of Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz will make his own path more difficult, but he has the talent to ensure the Stamford Bridge youth movement goes on.
