Juventus sacks Sarri, loses interest in Chelsea’s Jorginho

Chelsea could take a financial hit due to Juventus’ sacking of Maurizio Sarri as his departure means the Italian club no longer has much use for Jorginho.

A move away from the club for Jorginho looked fairly certain as he has long been a favorite of Maurizio Sarri for whom he played at Napoli and Chelsea. The Brazilian born Italian international is the ultimate regista in the middle of the park in Sarri’s midfield—he fits the Sarri-ball system like a glove.

However, his style of play and strengths haven’t fit in well with the new system instilled by Frank Lampard at Chelsea. That style of play is attacking football geared toward driving the ball as directly as possible toward the opposition’s goal. Jorginho doesn’t fit this style as his forte is short-passing for the most part, laterally or backward on the pitch. The Italian’s lack of athleticism makes it difficult for him to play a role in the high-press system of Lampard. Therefore, the likelihood of his departure was relatively high two days ago as he was linked with Juventus.

Over the past couple of days, however, that has changed dramatically. First, Juventus was eliminated from the Champions League and immediately rumors began to swirl surrounding Sarri’s future at the club. The rumors proved accurate as Sarri was sacked a day later and Juventus hired club legend Andrea Pirlo to replace him. That turn of events leaves the potential for a high-level transfer of Jorginho away from Chelsea impacted in a largely negative way. His value on the market at the moment has been drastically reduced with his admirer now out of a job.

Yet, all is not lost. There is still the potential that the situation may ultimately resolve itself favorably to some extent, if not to the absolute to the satisfaction of Chelsea and its fans. There are two major factors that can surely intervene to help bring happiness to Chelsea fans who are not enamored with Jorginho’s style of play.

The first, of course, is Sarri-ball. The bad news is that Sarri, presumably Jorginho’s greatest supporter, is not managing a team at the moment. The good news is that he will be as he has developed into a winner in recent seasons. In addition to developing and leading an excellent Napoli team for years, Sarri’s achievements over the past two years would be looked upon as superlative for most coaches.

Two years ago, in the Italian’s sole season at Chelsea, he led a decent—but not really excellent—team to a third-place finish in the Premier League and earned Championship League qualification. Further, he won the Europa League and earned his first managerial trophy in the process. Unfortunately—or fortunately for Chelsea, depending on your outlook—Sarri decided to leave Chelsea after just one season. No one could blame him for leaving for one of world football’s premier positions as manager of Juventus, the perennial Serie A champion.

Sarri did what Juventus expects of all its managers in the 2019/20 season, he won the Scudetto, the Serie A title. Alas, expectations are high in Turin—really high. In addition to the Serie A title, Sarri was expected to bring another major trophy to the club, the Champions League trophy. If nothing else, the club’s hierarchy expected their team to at least compete in Europe. Eventually, he failed in that pursuit, as Juventus was ousted by Lyon and Sarri got the boot. Whether it was the timing of the loss, the opposition to whom Sarri lost or the fact that he lost at all, that UCL defeat cost Sarri his job at Juventus. It was an exit-provoking event.

It is not unprecedented—certainly for a highly-skilled manager—for managers to take some time away from football after being relieved of their duties by a club. Therefore, it would be surprising to see Sarri on the sidelines this fall. Some forward-looking team will see Sarri as their possible ticket to a title and/or tactical success. Whether it be this summer, in January or even next summer, the offers will eventuate. When they do, Jorginho’s value will again increase as Sarri may look to build around his former centerpiece once more.

The other factor that could bring more immediate relief to Chelsea fans who’d welcome the exit of Jorginho is that his services were once sought-after by one Pep Guardiola of Manchester City. That’s a high compliment and while Guardiola may not go in for Jorginho himself, the fact that he had serious interest two years ago will certainly carry at least some weight around world football. One thing is certain, the Blues don’t need Jorginho any longer.

In the end, those who’d prefer that Jorginho ply his substantial talents elsewhere can take heart. Despite Sarri being sacked by Juventus, the possibility still exists for a Jorginho transfer either now at a reduced price or in the not so distant future.