Two weeks after his Premier League debut, the Covid pandemic began. Anjorin spent the lockdown trying to maintain his progress by shaving around 10kg off his weight through dietary changes and running “10 to 12k every day”.
It was the wrong approach of the former gym staff in Cobham, as Anjorin explains: “I ended up tearing my quad because I didn’t have any muscle in me.”
What followed was an unrelated metatarsal injury and the following season he was on loan at Lokomotiv Moscow, although Anjorin had time to impress in the Europa League, scoring a stunning goal against Marseille.
He returned to England under the closer supervision of Chelsea’s doctors when he was on loan at Huddersfield but ankle surgery saw him miss 11 Championship matches.
Premier League wages after his debut in June 2020, combined with injuries, meant little demand for Anjorin’s services on loan. It left him, in his own words, “thankful” League One Portsmouth took a “chance” on him.
Unfortunately, in Portsmouth, Anjorin encountered another problem, which before it is described as “heartbreaking”.
“It was just starting to go well, and then my hamstring tore right next to the bone, 5% was left hanging, it wasn’t good,” he explains.
“I have no stories about what happened to me, my head was completely lost – it was the worst mental health I’ve ever had in my life.
“I wasn’t dealing with it very well at all. No one could talk to me, no one could do anything. I’d just sit there, I’d go in, and just put ice on it, and then I’d just go to sleep.
“Six weeks after the operation, my head was still bad. But Portsmouth, I’m very grateful, said: ‘We want you at the end of the season, or if you come back, just take your time, make sure you’re strong enough to come back’.
“I was really looking forward to re-uniting with Portsmouth permanently this summer, they will always be in my heart, so if someone had told me then I would be playing Milan at the San Siro – I would have laughed at them.
“It all happened so fast, even when the opportunity was presented to me, I couldn’t believe it.”
