Three big questions: Chelsea and the awkwardness of Jorginho

2. What club would take him with Maurizio Sarri sacked?

When Rafa Benitez was Napoli manager, Jorginho was not nearly as highly regarded as he became under Sarri. The Italian manager found a role for the midfielder and built his teams around Jorginho for the next four years across two clubs. As Jorginho became a success, so too did Sarri.

Fast forward to Sarri’s time at Juventus and two things stood out. The first is that his tactics hardly clicked with the Old Lady, which surely would have come as no surprise to anyone who watched his Chelsea season. The second is the old trait of Sarri brining former players to his new club hardly went away. Jorginho was linked and seen as the answer to Juventus’ issues.

Of course, Sarri has been sacked for somehow regressing a team that wins Serie A in their sleep. And with Sarri gone, the only club truly linked to Jorginho suddenly became an unlikely destination. That says a lot about the unique relationship between the player and the manager that neither seems to have a place without the other.

What that means for Chelsea is that it will be very difficult to move Jorginho on. Rumor has it that he is being shopped out but now there are suddenly no suitors for the midfielder. As Chelsea looks to reinforce their team with players that suit Lampard’s tactics better, he may end up stuck with a player like Jorginho that he either has to adapt to or simply exile.

It is far from an ideal situation, but one the club should not find all that surprising after last season.