The man now making waves and attracting European giants after snubbing Portsmouth

He’s the Pompey transfer target who ‘fully expected’ to move to Fratton Park.

Tino Anjorin was viewed as a recruitment priority last summer, after making a positive impression helping the Blues’ reach the Championship.

But the former Chelsea’s man career took an unexpected turn when the chance of a move to Serie A arrived last August, a switch he took over linking up with John Mousinho’s side once again.

A three-year deal in Tuscany was favoured, as he joined Empoli in a move few people saw coming days before the window’s close.

It’s been a tumultuous campaign for the Poole-born talent, as the Azzuri Empolesi started well with an eight-game unbeaten run - including a victory at Italian powerhouse Roma and draw with Juventus.

Anjorin’s performances then reportedly drew January interest from Juve, with the Old Lady of Turin trailing a potential deal for the player who made his Premier League debut at 18.

A move never materialised though, with Empoli and Anjorin’s season going hideously wrong in 2025. Incredibly, they’d failed to win a Serie A game this year, with their last success arriving with a 4-1 win over Verona in December.

That run of 19 league games without victory unsurprisingly saw Roberto D’Aversa’s side come crashing down the table, leaving them a single spot off the bottom going into last Sunday’s critical home clash with Parma at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.

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Anjorin endured injury problems in that time, but returned off the bench last month to salvage an important 2-2 draw with Venezia.

With Parma also in relegation danger the stakes were high, with Jacopo Fazzini giving Empoli an 11th-minute lead. With Lautaro Valenti sent off in the 31st minute, it was looking good for Anjorin until Bosnian Milan Djuric levelled things up 17 minutes from time.

That was the way it looked set to finish, with a draw giving Empoli a mountain to climb to stay up - until the former Pompey loanee stepped forward with a delightful curling drive to win the game with four minutes remaining.

That sparked delirious Empoli scenes, with there now realistic hopes of survival despite their shocking form.

Empoli occupy the final relegation place one point behind Venezia, as they take a trip to Monza who are already relegated on Sunday. They then face Verona on the final Sunday of the season.

Hopes will again be high of Anjorin taking centre stage, in the manner he has for his side’s bid to stay up.

Former Chelsea and Pompey man: It was a special goal

He said: ‘It was a special goal for me to score and I really loved it.

‘But the more important thing for me was to win. We went 1-0 up, but we let it slip and conceded. So to then score again and have that momentum going into the next two games is special.

‘It was nice to get the win. Coming into the game we knew we had three finals and this was the first final. So we went into it with everything we had and I’m delighted for the win.

‘The approach was three finals and that was the first final - so what you are going to get from us is the ferocity of it being a final now which we need to carry forward.

‘I’m happy that I’ve scored two beautiful goals, but it’s more important how important these goals were. Of course, I’m very happy with this.’

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