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Chelsea sensation Tino Anjorin plays catch up after career plans dashed by injury
A turbulent season has brought Chelsea wonderkid Tino Anjorin to a crossroads in his career, with the next few months crucial to his future.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder looked to be the next in line to break into the European champions’ first team when he made his debut in 2019 under former boss Frank Lampard.
The now-Everton manager oversaw a youth revolution at Stamford Bridge, integrating the likes of Mason Mount and Reece James.
The Englishman’s progression looked positive when he followed up his Carabao Cup debut by featuring in the Premier League and the Champions League and signed a new five-year contract.
Such were the high hopes that Lokomotiv Moscow were moved to un-retire their number 10 shirt to convince him to move to Russia on a loan-to-buy deal this season, under the advice of head of sports development Ralf Rangnick.
A £17million option was included that The Athletic reported they had “every intention” of activating, so it looked like he was set to be the main man in the Russian capital ahead of a potential return to West London under the buy-back the Blues put in to show how highly he was valued.
Nine appearances and a Europa League goal against Marseille were a reasonable start but broken metatarsal stalled everything for Anjorin.
The subsequent departure of Rangnick for the Manchester United job removed his primary backer and the plans CSKA had went with the German.
Still not fully fit, Anjorin has since returned to London and moved to Huddersfield Town on loan where head coach Carlos Corberan told the club’s website: “I believe Tino is one of the most important young talents in Britain.”
The youngster is still yet to make an appearance in the Championship but will be anxious to make an impact as soon as possible.
It is not yet a crisis situation, but with the turmoil of the last six months he risks being lost in the churn of talented youngsters coming out of the Chelsea academy.
Charly Musonda springs to mind of an example of a highly-rated youngster who broke into the first team before injury and loan move difficulty ruined a promising career.
An injury and upheaval at such a crucial time was cruel but Anjorin is now faced with a key period, as the stakes are high while he seeks to get back on track before it’s too late.
In other Football Wonderkids news, England’s next Harry Kane could be at Liverpool.