Chelsea are in talks with Argentine club Boca Juniors to lower their asking price for teenage defender Aaron Anselmino according to reports.

The Blues have increasingly tapped into the South American market under the new ownership and have already signed Estevao Willian, Andrey Santos, Kendry Paez, Angelo Gabriel and Deivid Washington from the continent.

Anselmino appears to be the club's next South American target as the Blues continue their recruitment drive to sign the best young talent from around the world.

Chelsea negotiating with Boca Juniors over Anselmino asking price The Blues reportedly entered into initial discussions with Boca Juniors for the 19-year-old last week, with reports in Argentina suggesting they had launched an opening bid of around PS14m, although this hasn't been confirmed by Chelsea.

Anselmino has come through the ranks at the Argentine club, but despite only making ten appearances for the first team he is attracting interest from some big clubs.

The Argentine, who can also play in midfield signed a new deal in January 2023 which ties him down to Boca until 2028.

Chelsea are trying to negotiate a lower fee with Boca Juniors for Anselmino. Chelsea are keen on his services and are trying to jump ahead of any competition for Anselmino, but Simon Johnson has reported in The Athletic that there's one sticking point with the deal.

He wrote:

"Boca Juniors are prepared to sell defender Aaron Anselmino for around PS20million. Chelsea are in talks but over a lower sum."

More Stories / Latest News Quite what the plan for Anselmino would be is unclear, and given the defensive options the club have it seems very unlikely he would go into the first team squad, with a loan to Strasbourg the obvious move if the Blues do complete a deal.

Chelsea have already signed one centre back this summer with Tosin Adarabioyo arriving on a free transfer from neighbours Fulham, but fans will want to see more signings for the first team rather than signings for the future.