Young Chelsea defender Aaron Anselmino has been left out of the Argentina squad named for January's Under-20 South America Championship. Instead, he was recalled by the Blues, ending his loan to Boca Juniors early.

Anselmino was signed by Chelsea over the summer for over £15million ahead of a host of their Premier League rivals. He was sent back to his home country and former club to gain extra experience and to continue his development.

A hamstring injury at the start of the season - which began in May - hampered his progress before another muscle injury cut things short in November. Anselmino played 14 times either side of the two fitness setbacks, starting 10 but seeing team form fluctuate throughout.

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Now, as Chelsea face some serious centre-back questions in the January window, Anselmino's return has taken another twist. Aged 19, he is eligible for Argentina at the youth championship later this month (and into February) but has not been selected to play.

Instead, he will remain at Cobham, where he will acclimatise under Enzo Maresca. Speaking about the defender last week, Chelsea's manager said: "He’s another talent, another good player. Now the most important thing is that he arrives here, adapts himself, finds a house, and settles in the right way.

"Then we need to give him time because when you come from the other part of the world, you need to adapt. You need to see a new world, a new culture. For sure we are going to try to help him to adapt as soon as possible."

He added: "At the moment, the plan is to keep him here to allow him to work with us, and then to take a decision. If he’s here it’s because we think he is a good player, and he can help us, but for sure he is very young, and he is coming from Argentina, with a completely different culture, different football, different level, so he needs time to adapt."

Meanwhile, there is the prospect of a centre-back merry-go-round at Stamford Bridge. With Wesley Fofana injured and sidelined for at least the next four weeks (with Maresca stating it could be for the rest of the season, seemingly to the player's unhappiness), Chelsea are already down two defenders. Benoit Badiashile is also sidelined with a problem of his own.

Reece James has returned to the matchday squad in the last two games for right-back options but has not yet managed to find full fitness. Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo are yet to fully win the trust of Maresca, which was shown by Josh Acheampong's full Premier League debut at Selhurst Park in the 1-1 draw on Saturday.

With changes on the cards, Chelsea are considering the recall of Trevoh Chalobah, football.london understands. Although no final decision has been made on how the club moves forward, interest also remains in other centre-back targets Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, and former academy captain Marc Guehi.