Two weeks after his Premier League debut, the Covid pandemic began. Anjorin spent lockdown trying to maintain his progress by shaving around 10kg off his weight through a change of diet and running “10 to 12k every day”.
It was a misguided approach by former fitness staff at Cobham, as Anjorin explains: “I ended up completely tearing my quad because I didn’t have any muscle on me.”
Next came an unrelated metatarsal injury during the following season while on loan at Lokomotiv Moscow, although Anjorin had time to excel in the Europa League, scoring a wonderful, curling finish against Marseille.
He returned to England for closer supervision by Chelsea’s medical staff while on loan at Huddersfield but ankle surgery caused him to miss 11 Championship matches.
A Premier League-level wage after his June 2020 debut, alongside the injuries, meant limited demand for Anjorin’s services on loan. It left him, in his own words, “grateful” League One Portsmouth took “a chance” on him.
Unfortunately, while at Portsmouth, Anjorin suffered another setback, which he previously described as “heart-breaking”.
“It was just starting to go well, and then my hamstring just tore almost completely off the bone, 5% was left hanging on, it was not nice,” he explains.
“I don’t have a story about something getting me through, my head was completely gone – it was the worst mental health I’ve had in my life.
“I wasn’t dealing with it well at all. No-one could speak to me, no-one could do anything. I just sat there, I’d go in, and just ice it, and then go and just sleep.
“Six weeks after the surgery, my head was still bad. But then Portsmouth, I really appreciate it, said: ‘We want you for the end of the season, or when you get back, just take your time, make sure you’re really strong so you can get back’.
“I fully expected to be re-joining Portsmouth permanently this summer, they will always be in my heart, so if someone told me then I’d be playing Milan at San Siro – I’d have laughed at them.
“It all happened so quickly, even when the opportunity was first brought to me, I didn’t believe it.”
