Jorginho came to Chelsea and did exactly what everyone expected of him, because it was everything Maurizio Sarri had ever demanded he do. Since he will not be following Sarri to Juventus, Jorginho has the opportunity to show what else he is able to do.
After three years at Napoli Jorginho was one of the most acutely known quantities in football. As he was the most vital organ in Maurizio Sarri’s attempts to graft the second- or third-best football Serie A had to offer onto Chelsea FC, Jorginho’s fourth season under the nicotinic Neapolitan was unnecessary confirmation of what everyone expected.
But even the most dutiful service has its limits. Whatever Jorginho might think of Sarri and the prospect of more years together, Sarri’s move to Juventus was too much. Jorginho said it could be a “betrayal” of Napoli, one he would not be a party to.
This leaves Jorginho with an unusual mid-career opportunity: a clean slate, and a chance to show a manager and the football world something they didn’t already know about him.
One of the many things we learned about Maurizio Sarri last season (and probably would have earlier, had we watched Napoli the season before last) is that how he uses a player does not much line up with the best use of a player, let alone the full scope of a player’s talents. Imagine if the first time you ever watched N’Golo Kante was last season as a box-to-box midfielder in Sarri’s 4-3-3. You’d immediately recognize an immense talent, physical and technical capabilities, and a remarkable ability to always be exactly where he needs to be. But something would just be a bit… off, as if he was some place he shouldn’t be doing not quite what he should be doing.
All we know about Jorginho is what Maurizio Sarri directed him to show us: one-touch, no-look-but-not-in-a-sly-way, metronomically predictable passing from the base of midfield, complemented by minimal defensive positioning or acumen.
These may be the extent of his abilities. They could be a funhouse mirror distortion, magnifying his worst tendencies because that is how Maurizio Sarri defines “r*****a.” Or they could be a slim selection of what he can do, he just had never had leeway in the system to do more of it.
If he is as steeped in the system- and circuit-based Italian method as Sarri, and has particular gratitude towards Sarri for the impact on his career, Jorginho may be a loyal, self-abnegating company man.
Given the players Chelsea have and what we saw of Frank Lampard last season at Derby County, the most likely role for Jorginho next season is in a double pivot with N’Golo Kante. This would keep Jorginho directly involved in Chelsea’s build-ups and transition play, while giving the squad two options through midfield instead of one and making the best use of Kante. Part of that best use is letting Kante cover his midfield partner defensively while offering himself as another outlet for Jorginho.
Alternatively, as my colleague Abhishek Pancholi suggested a few months ago, Jorginho could play as a No. 10.
"His passing would be better suited to strikers making runs behind the opposing defence, instead of a midfielder receiving the ball with his back to goal. The forwards could also interplay with Jorginho, allowing the Italian to get closer to goal and maybe score a few himself.With his ability to navigate tight spaces and still pass the ball to a teammate, Jorginho could become a regular name on the assists charts too."
Chelsea will not find anyone willing to take Jorginho on loan at his wages nor permanently at a break-even price (£57 million). The finances, as much if not more than his football, will keep him at Stamford Bridge next season.
This leaves it up to the next manager and Jorginho himself to find the best use for his talents, which first means fully discovering and evaluating what they actually are.
It would the ultimate irony, the truest legacy and the tippity-top pinnacle of banter if, with a little bit of coaching and a new tactical structure, Jorginho flourishes into a Premier League midfielder: versatile, aware, physical and flexible. When he chooses his moments for one-touch passes, takes command of the ball, opens space for himself and others, rotates his way around a midfield and sets an unpredictable tempo for the game, all those years under Sarri will start to look like a dank prologue to his coming-of-age tale.
Jorginho may not ever make 100 passes in a game again, but with a few assists and sustained contributions to a truly dynamic style of play, he may leave behind the r*****a epithet and become the latest proper Chelsea midfielder.