FIFA Player of the Year power rankings: Can Chelsea star win it?

1. Jorginho (Chelsea)

Chelsea superstar Jorginho is currently the favorite to pick up the Best FIFA Men’s Player award. The Italian maestro conquered Europe with Chelsea and Italy, and he has had a fantastic start to the current season. The Brazilian-born midfielder was instrumental in Chelsea’s triumphs last season. He—alongside Kante—was the most important asset for the Blues and without him, the London side would have not won the UEFA Champions League or the Super Cup. The 29-year-old has already won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award, and he is one of the favorites to win the Ballon d’Or, as well. Thus, it is not hard to say that he will probably take home this award if he keeps up his current form.

The former Napoli man plays as a defensive midfielder, making tackles, winning back the ball, controlling the midfield and dictating the pace of the game. However, he is not a regular defensive midfielder. He is not robust and he does not have the extreme pace to keep up with attackers. What he has, however, is the awareness to make brilliant passes and the passion to go into every tackle giving it his 100 percent. Jorginho is not afraid to slide into players and he had amassed 10 yellow cards in his second season with the Blues. However, his tackling sense has gotten a lot better and his natural ability over the ball allows him to play the game according to his will. He has excellent vision, as well, and he tends to give a lot of crucial passes which ultimately leads to an attack. He has the ability to put in direct balls from the midfield to the striker, as he used to do with Olivier Giroud, but he now chooses to build up the play instead.

His extreme control over the midfield earned him the name “the conductor” as it seemed like he was conducting an orchestra. The player also had a brilliant season with Italy and he was key to its ultimate victory at Euro 2020. He had a 93 percent passing accuracy in the Euros and also covered 86.4 kilometers throughout the tournament. Since his position is in the defensive half of the midfield, people often overlook his importance. Nevertheless, Jorginho quietly plays his own game and helps the entire squad around him. The individual awards do not really favor defensive players, but Jorginho has been a league above everyone and he has conquered Europe. Should he continue his great start with Chelsea, there is no reason as to why the player cannot end up winning the Best FIFA Men’s Player award, as well as the Ballon d’Or later this year.

Do you think Jorginho can win this year’s award? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!