Paul Merson is convinced that Chelsea ‘aren’t the same team’ when Jorginho doesn’t play.
The Italian midfielder was brought to Stamford Bridge for £50m back in 2018 and has since been a constant feature in the Blues line-up.
Onto his fourth Blues manager in Graham Potter, Jorginho was a mainstay for Maurizio Sarri, Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel.
He has started 118 of the 153 games he has been available for in the Premier League and played a key role as the club won their second Champions League trophy in 2021.
But the 30-year-old has previously been called ‘complacent’ by Gabby Agbonlahor (talkSPORT via football.london) and labelled a ‘glorified Drinkwater’ by fans.
Although when asked to list the five best midfielders in the Premier League at present, Merson leapt to the Euro 2020 winners’ defence and listed Jorginho at third, behind Kevin Kevin De Bruyne and Thiago.
He wrote in his Sportskeeda column: ‘When Jorginho first joined to play at the base of Chelsea’s midfield under Maurizio Sarri, he got a lot of stick. That said, over the years, he’s played regularly under every manager who has taken over the reins at Stamford Bridge, which simply doesn’t happen if you aren’t a good player.
‘Jorginho has got flaws like his lack of pace, but he’s very assured on the ball and controls the game from a deeper midfield position. For me, he’s very underrated as people really don’t understand what he brings to the table in the Premier League. Chelsea aren’t the same team when he doesn’t play, as his presence allows the likes of Reece James and Marc Cucurella or Ben Chilwell to bomb forward in attack.
‘Last year, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League and Italy won the European Championships, with Jorginho playing a massive role for club and country. It couldn’t have been a fluke, so he’s definitely a special player.’
Indeed, his credentials can’t be denied and considering Jorginho played every minute of Italy’s European Championship win, but for 15 in the final group game, his role was instrumental in that success.
He won the Best Player in Europe award in the 2020/21 season and ranks in the top 10% among midfielders on the continent for progressive passes per 90 (6.23) and pass completion (89.5%) according to Fbref.
While he could do more on the opposite side of the ball, the underlying numbers do suggest that he has managed 2.51 interceptions per game over the past year, so it will be interesting to see if Potter also sees the benefits the Italian can bring to Chelsea moving forward.
