Faustino Anjorin will remain at Chelsea football club until 2025 as he has signed a contract extension with the club for the second time in less than two years. Before the 5 years contact extension, Chelsea gave him his first professional deal shortly before he turned 17. The three years deal would have kept him at the club until 2021 if it wasn’t extended.
Besides his potentials on the field of play and the drive of the club’s manager, Frank Lampard, to give the club’s academy players a chance to come through, Chelsea was forced to extend Anjorin’s contract because of the interest he has generated. Since January, the 18-year-old Nigerian born British footballer has been wanted at Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal.
Faustino Anjorin however, decided to tie his future to Chelsea football club where he has been since he was 6-year-old. He said that it has been his dream to play for the senior team of the club having played for all the age-grade level of the Stamford Bridge club.
After signing his 5 years contract extension, he told the official website of the club on Monday that he had no hesitation to sign the contract because Chelsea has always been a club he dreamed of playing for.
“It’s a brilliant feeling,” he said. “I have been at the club since I was six years old so to get to this stage and then be offered another five-year contract on top of that is amazing. I had no hesitation but to take it straight away because to play for the club I always dreamed of playing for is really special for me.
“Frank, Jody Morris and Joe Edwards have taken us on board and really committed themselves to bringing young players through. “It’s been really important to have those familiar faces around. It’s easy to talk to people and be around the first team building more because you’re welcomed in. Hopefully, I can try to carry on being a part of that as long as I keep working hard and impressing the coaches.
“I’ve been at Chelsea for so long so it feels really special to get this new long contract, especially because it gives me a few years to keep developing and try to push to get into the first team. I know I still have a lot of hard work to do to get there but hopefully, I can do it and inspire the next group of young players coming through that it can be done.”
Who is Faustino Anjorin?
Faustino Anjorin was born to a Nigerian father and a British mother in Poole, England on 23 November 2001. His father has always wanted him to be a footballer, hence, he was named after a former Newcastle player and Colombian legend Faustino Asprilla, who was the first player to score a hat-trick against Barcelona.
From a tender age, the 18-year-old midfielder has always wanted to be like Frank Lampard, the manager of Chelsea who was a box-to-box midfielder during his playing days at the club. He also became more interest in Chelsea because of John Obi Mikel, a Nigerian midfielder who had an 11 years football career at the club.
Chelsea’s scouts spotted Faustino Anjorin when he was 6-year-old and he was invited to join Chelsea under -7 team. His father allowed him to join and he continued developing and progressing through the ranks.
He has been so impressive that Frank Lampard had to offer him his first appearance for Chelsea senior team when he was 17 years, 10 months and 2 days old, making him the youngest player of Nigerian descent to feature for the club. The record was previously held by Fikayo Tomori. He first featured for the club when he was 18 years, 4 months and 26 days old.
Besides club football, he has played for England under 17, 18 and 19, scoring a total of 5 goals in 16 matches. However, he is still eligible to play for Super Eagles of Nigeria or the Three Lions of England since he has not been capped at the senior level.
What are the abilities of Faustino Anjorin?
So far, Faustino Anjorin has shown that he is a box-to-box midfielder in the mode of Frank Lampard in his playing days. From his explores at Chelsea junior team and with England age-grade teams, Anjorin has proven that he is a midfielder who has a tremendous ability to position himself and to score goals.
For instance, while playing for Chelsea youth team the disrupted 2019-2020 season, he has scored 11 goals and has made 6 assists in 25 games.
Besides that, he can use both legs to shoot, pass and score. And his passing accuracy can be compared to that of Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. But his pace on the ball and his tackling ability can outweigh that of the two legends if he continues to develop at his current pace.
