Champions League club ‘furious’ with Chelsea over transfer recall decision

Borussia Dortmund have been left furious by Chelsea’s decision to recall Aaron Anselmino from his loan spell, talkSPORT understands.

The 20-year-old joined the Bundesliga giants for the 2025/26 season in August, but with an agreement which included a break clause.

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Chelsea, who are already in the transfer market to add a centre-back this month, have now further bolstered their defensive ranks.

The Blues held contractual rights on both Anselmino and Mamadou Sarr, who is currently on loan with sister club, Strasbourg.

However, Liam Rosenior‘s first deal of his Stamford Bridge era will be to bring Anselmino back into the fold over his former Ligue 1 player.

Reports in Germany, which talkSPORT understands to be accurate, first revealed that Dortmund are furious with Chelsea’s decision to trigger their option now, with only a week left of the window.

The Bundesliga giants were blindsided by the Blues’ decision, with the club making no signals in the weeks ahead of terminating his loan.

Chelsea recall Aaron Anselmino

A blunt statement from Dortmund read: “Borussia Dortmund regrets Anselmino’s sudden departure and thanks him for his contributions over the past months.

“The club wishes the Argentine all the best for the future.”

The Argentina youth international has played just two competitive minutes for Chelsea since his arrival in January, 2025.

Anselmino, a £15.6m signing from Boca Juniors, made his Blues debut in the Club World Cup round of 16 win over Benfica.

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The 20-year-old, who is yet to make his Premier League bow, moved to Germany last summer and had started to impress at Dortmund.

He made ten appearances across all competitions, scoring once in the league and registering one assist in the Champions League.

Injuries reduced his game time at the Westfalenstadion, but Anselmino had only made his return from the bench on Saturday.

Dortmund’s No.28 came off the bench for the 3-0 win over Union Berlin that cemented the club’s place in second in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund boss Niko Kovac revealed earlier in the season that he expected his loan star to remain until the end of the season.

“Aaron is doing really well. You can rely on the young man from the first minute to the last,” he said at the end of November.

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“A great lad, a great defender. He doesn’t let anything slip. Everything is settled with Chelsea.

“I expect him to remain our player until the end of the season. He’s getting the minutes he wasn’t getting at Chelsea.”

Weeks later, Dortmund publicly revealed their desire to extend Anselmino’s stay beyond the end of the current campaign.

“I will have to pick up the phone in the next few days and will certainly call them,” Sporting director Sebastian Kehl said after Dortmund’s 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen.

“We hope that Aaron will stay on, of course. We have a very good connection with Chelsea.”

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Chelsea ignored Anselmino recall advice

European football expert Andy Brassell had urged Chelsea against terminating Anselmino’s loan to avoid harming his development.

“Long-term, I really see him working in the Premier League,” he exclusively told talkSPORT.com last month.

“So I think Chelsea, and maybe him, depending on how he feels about it, just need to exercise a little bit of patience here.

“I think if they leave him at Dortmund, he’ll probably play another 15 games before the end of the season.

“Given that he’s a young guy with relatively little experience at the top level, I think that’s a great opportunity for him.

“And to be surrounded by a coaching staff which emphasises physical effort, discipline, covering every blade of grass, which Niko Kovac and his lot are, I think that would be a big asset for him.

“So obviously Chelsea could call it off. I’m not sure that’s massively to the benefit of the player.”