The production line of talent out of the Chelsea Academy is seemingly never-ending, and the latest name we all need to learn and pay attention to — and worry about getting into the first-team — is Faustino Anjorin, who signed his first professional (presumably the maximum allowed three-year) contract yesterday. Anjorin turned 17 last week, so he’s right on schedule.
Anjorin has come on in leaps and bounds over the past year, and has been turning heads with impressive performance after impressive performance so far this season.
A box-to-box midfielder of not insignificant size or strength, and even more significant skill on the ball, Tino played a key part in last year’s FA Youth Cup-winning team, and has recently made the step up to U23 level without as much as a second thought, scoring on both his PL2 and Checkatrade Trophy debuts.
In the past seven days Tino Anjorin has scored his first UEFA Youth League, Premier League 2 and Checkatrade Trophy goals, the latter two on his first appearances in the competition.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) October 30, 2018
His goalscoring record has in fact been rather remarkable, and that’s not necessarily even the best part of his game.
Tino Anjorin's last eight Chelsea matches:
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) November 10, 2018
10 Nov: Newcastle U18 ⚽
03 Nov: Arsenal U23 ⚽
30 Oct: Plymouth ⚽ ️ ️
27 Oct: Brighton U23 ⚽
25 Oct: Molde U19 ⚽
20 Oct: West Ham U18 ⚽
06 Oct: Brighton U18 ⚽
15 Sep: Swansea U18 ⚽
Anjorin, of Nigerian descent but born in and having represented England in youth internationals, has been with Chelsea since the U7 level, and now joins an ever-growing line of homegrown talents ready to be unleashed on the upper echelons of the English professional leagues (but not necessarily at Chelsea, as the harsh reality goes).
He already plays like a man 10 years his senior; this probably isn’t the last time we’ll ever of him!
Yeah, he's playing with supreme confidence at the minute, it's especially impressive how quickly he makes decisions and executes them with minimal fuss. Needs to be at U23 level for the rest of the season, only back with the 18s for the Youth Cup, where he'll be a leader.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) October 31, 2018