“It’s up to us to be ready for any opportunity that comes.”Without any context, Dapo Afolayan could be referring to any point of his unique journey from the ninth tier to the Championship – with stints in the Bundesliga and Loughborough University in between.Despite his impressive individual stats, Afolayan claimed his ‘biggest thing is about helping Blackburn become a winning team’GettyAs it is, the Blackburn Rovers star is discussing the dramatic turnaround in his own situation at Ewood Park to talkSPORT.com.Afolayan started just one game for the club last term after signing in January as they finished 20th in the Championship.However, the return of Tony Mowbray as manager in June after Michael O’Neill left Blackburn have seen his fortunes transformed.Afolayan has started all 14 league games for Rovers this season, and rewarded the 62-year-old’s faith with four goals and two assists.“The gaffer’s great here, because he’s really honest,” Blackburn’s No.21 told talkSPORT. “He loves football. He’s a passionate man. “I think if you sit down with him, you’ll hear his passion, you’ll feel his emotion – we’re quite similar in that way.“I think for me, I went over to Germany, and I improved so much as a player. I was obviously playing at a high level, playing in the Bundesliga there, was something that was a dream for me.“And, to come back here, for me, it was always just a matter of being able to play and have the opportunity to play.“The gaffer’s given me that, and I always see it as players: It’s up to us to be ready for any opportunity that comes, and when the opportunities do come, to take it.“I feel like I’ve tried to do that this year, and I will keep trying to do that if I’m picked to play.Mowbray recently challenged ‘intelligent’ Afolayan to keep improving“The gaffer’s emotion and the way he talks about the game and the feeling I’m similar to him, so you want to repay him and repay that faith that he’s had in you.“It’s been really good this year, the confidence that he gives me to go out and to perform and to use my strengths.”Mowbray’s belief in Afolayan’s ability will always be second to the one shown by the Harrow-born winger in himself.The EFL star who rejected Chelsea for GCSE’sWhen he was 14 years old, an age when most young players are terrified of losing an elite academy spot, the former Chelsea starlet left the Blues youth set-up to continue his education.With no guarantee that a pathway back to the promised land would be achievable, Afolayan developed an emotional resilience beyond his years.“For me, it was good to have that lesson early on in my life, so when I did encounter any other setbacks in my footballing career, or life for that matter, I was able to push through them, and I knew how to deal with them,” Afolayan continued.Afolayan has started all 14 Championship games for Blackburn this seasonGetty“Obviously, experiencing that stuff at an early age, as you say, it’s difficult for a lot of young lads.“When you’re young, you want to play at the top of the academies in the country – You want to play for the best clubs. “When you’re at one, then leaving that, it’s a difficult period.“I’ve seen some lads not recover from that, really. “I think at an early age, it was really good for me to learn that and it obviously helped me in good stead for the rest of my career.”Within 24 months of his decision, Afolayan’s family relocated to Canada, where he had the opportunity to join MLS side Toronto FC.Afolayan speaking to talkSPORT about a potential first call-up for NigeriaAfter training with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco, he returned to the UK as he came of age.Afolayan resurfaced in the National League with Solihull Moors while he also pursued a degree in civil engineering at Loughborough.His form for the West Midlands side saw him plucked from the bottom of the fifth tier by then-Premier League giants, West Ham.He scored on his debut for the Hammers under David Moyes in a 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Doncaster in January 2021 before joining Bolton; first on loan and then on a permanent deal.Afolayan made himself a hero that May when he opened his account for Wanderers in a final-day victory away to Crawley Town that earned Ian Evatt’s side promotion from League Two.The following campaign, he won the club’s Player of the Year award after finishing as top scorer with 14 goals.Afolayan won Bolton’s Player of the Year award in the 2021/22 campaign before a change in system left him in limboGettySix months later, Afolayan was convinced by now-Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler to join St Pauli in the Bundesliga 2.Hurzeler helped me learn football in a different wayThe German was just 29 – the same age Afolayan is now – when he convinced the one-cap England C star to move to Hamburg.“It’s funny you say that… I’ve never actually thought of it like that. It’s mental. I was 25 when I was leaving Bolton at the time,” Afolayan said.“I’d just flown over to Hamburg to see the facilities and to see the stadium, to meet the people there. Then, obviously, I had to meet the manager because he had the job, but he hadn’t taken a game yet.“He’d only had a few winter camp training games and stuff, which I’d watched. But yeah, the second I walked into the room with him, he basically told me everywhere that I could improve.“Exactly how he wanted me to fit into his system. He had a full presentation on me, watching clips of Bolton, saying, ‘You’re good at this, but you can be so much better here and so much better.’Hurzeler guided St Pauli back to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011GettyAfolayan celebrated scoring twice and assisting another in the victory against VFL Osnabruck that confirmed Bundesliga statusGetty“He really sounded like he wanted to improve me and wanted to make me a better player. “He was teaching me things that I’d never really thought about. “As quite a thinker about the game, someone who likes to think football and tactically, and try and understand the game, obviously having him at that point in my career was the best thing that had happened to me. “He helped me learn football in a different way, view things in a different way, and the mentality of how important the big focus is on training and how details are so important, and how training days are so important not to waste away and to make sure you’re trying to be the best player every day. “No matter whether you’re 21 or a young kid coming through, or you’re 30, and you’re in your 30s, it’s still just as important.“After my meeting with him, I pretty much called my family and said I was going to go out there.”Afolayan’s arrival in January 2023 coincided with St Pauli surging away from a potential relegation battle by winning ten successive matches.That momentum continued into the next campaign, when Afolayan contributed nine goals in 31 games to help secure promotion.Fans streamed on the pitch to mob Afolayan and his teammates after St Pauli confirmed their promotionGettyHurzeler left for Brighton that summer, with his former player following him back to England this year, thanks in part to the work of Blackburn’s head of football operations, Rudy Gestede.Now his career comes full circle when Rovers, who are just six points adrift of the playoffs, take on his former club West Ham – and their new manager Scott Parker – on Saturday.‘It means something playing West Ham’“I had a great time at the club, and I really enjoyed my years there,” Afolayan told talkSPORT. “It really helped me on my journey.“Even though I didn’t play many games, a lot of the people at the club taught me what it is to be a professional footballer, and to come in every game and to be honest and to work hard.“I’ve got lots of friends who are back at the club still; it will be nice to see them and stuff. As the game comes, it’s going to be pretty simple to block it out and focus on what we need to do.“I think the game itself is going to be a great game because I think it’s two teams that both want to play in the right way.Afolayan will look to haunt his former club West Ham in a pivotal clash for his current sideGetty“It’s a really good test for us because we obviously want to compete at the top end of the division. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us to go out and express ourselves and to show people what we’re really about.”If anyone knows all about making the most of an opportunity when the time comes, it’s Afolayan…