The key Chelsea target now suffering pain away from Portsmouth
He was the gifted talent Pompey had firmly in their sights last summer who decided to move elsewhere after impressing at Fratton.
And like another man fitting the same description in Cardiff’s Alex Robertson, this midfielder is now experiencing a difficult time after helping the Blues to League One victory.
But, for Tino Anjorin, his battle is taking place 1,000 miles away from the scene of April’s third tier championship win being confirmed against Barnsley.
The midfielder started in that never-to-be-forgotten win over the Tykes at Fratton Park, with the 3-2 success confirming Pompey’s return to the Championship after a 12-year absence.
That was part of a strong end to the season from the Chelsea loanee, which convinced the Blues a permanent deal was worth exploring after a season in which a hamstring tear suffered at Chesterfield in November limited his impact to 14 appearances.
The quality was certainly evident from the man heralded as one of the shining lights of his parent club’s academy stacked with emerging talent, after making his Premier League debut at the age of 18 against Everton.
That followed on from Robertson snubbing Pompey in favour of Championship rivals Cardiff and the setbacks a clear blow for Mousinho’s preparations for the new campaign.
Anjorin went on to state he ‘fully expected’ to move to Pompey, as things started well in Tuscany as Juventus were held to a 0-0 draw and he appeared at the San Siro against Inter Milan.
Former Chelsea man rushed back from injury in Serie A
An eight-game unbeaten start in all competitions now seems a long way away for Anjorin and Roberto D’Aversa’s side, however, as the season has fallen off a cliff for Empoli.
In fact, Empoli have not won a Serie A game since a 4-1 success at Verona in December, a run spanning 19 games with 13 defeats arriving in that time. That has seen Anjorin’s team come crashing down the table and now sit just one spot of the bottom of the table.
There has been the light of run to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia for the first time for the Azzuri Empolesi with Juventus, Torino and Fiorentina defeated before a two-legged reverse against Bologna.
Anjorin scored the equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Venezia on his return and then started but was withdrawn in a derby defeat to Fiorentina, where his performance earned praise from his coach as he was risked despite lacking fitness.
D’Aversa said: ‘He (Anjorin) did well in the first half. It was a risk to start him from the first minute, but I wanted personality and the ability to play. Technically, he is someone who has nothing to envy compared to the players of Fiorentina.’
The gap is now two points to safety for Empoli with four games left and three of those matches against sides in the bottom six.
That means there’s still work to do to avoid Anjorin following Robertson’s fate of suffering relegation after not moving to Fratton.