Chelsea loanee Anjorin likened to De Bruyne by Lokomotiv Moscow chief, pundit reveals

Faustino Anjorin has been likened to Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne by Lokomotiv Moscow chief Ralf Rangnick, according to English football expert Paul Brown of the Mirror UK.

The Chelsea Academy graduate has joined the Railwaymen on loan for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy him outright set at 20 million euros included in the deal.

Anjorin thought it was best for him to move on loan as he wasn't assured of first team opportunities by manager Thomas Tuchel after missing a large part of pre-season training due to Covid.

Although he has been used mostly as a winger when on first team duties, the England youth international of Nigerian descent was predominantly a box-to-box midfielder in his schoolboy years at Chelsea.

"Lampard had high hopes for him and thought that Tino deserved a chance in the first team, but with the arrival of Tuchel, everything changed," Brown said to Sport24.

"Although Thomas promised to give him a chance this season, Anjorin missed the opportunity to impress by picking up the Covid and missing the camp.

"Then he had a telephone conversation with Rangnick. Ralf impressed him and convinced him to move to Lokomotiv.

"He constantly mentioned that Anjorin is very similar to De Bruyne. Rangnik promised him a key role in the Moscow club.

"I think that AnJorin had other options in England, but, probably, there he could not be guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup every week. And this is exactly what he wants now - to play constantly".

The 19-year-old Anjorin has started training with his new teammates at Lokomotiv Moscow ahead of a potential debut against Krylya Sovetov this coming Saturday.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel