Why Chelsea won’t swap Jorginho for Inter midfielder Eriksen

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

It has been reported that Inter have floated an idea to Chelsea of a swap deal between Jorginho and Christian Eriksen.

According to Calciomercato, it’s just an idea, but the Italian club would be keen to send Eriksen, plus cash, in return for Jorginho.

Chelsea reportedly would want at least £17.5 million and Eriksen for their defensive midfielder, which is not a figure Inter would be willing to pay at this moment in time.

Eriksen has made just five Serie A starts this term, and is yet to score or assist in the league; his move to Italy has quite simply been a failure.

It’s no surprise that Inter want to cut their losses with the Dane, but with Jorginho now in favour under new Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, it’s extremely unlikely the Blues would entertain such an offer.

In fact, Jorginho has played 90 minutes in all four games of Tuchel’s tenure, and with Marco Verratti and Julian Weigl crucial elements of his PSG and Dortmund teams respectively, Jorginho looks set to be given a similar role under Tuchel at Chelsea.

As well as not wanting to sell Jorginho, Chelsea don’t need Eriksen, it’s as simply as that.

Whilst he showed his class at Tottenham, he’s contributed to just three goals in 27 Serie A appearances since his move in January 2020; he’s out-of-favour sure, but that’s not good enough.

His key passes per 90 tally of 2.8 this season is certainly impressive, but given how small the sample size is, it’s hard to judge the accuracy of that stat.

In fact, Mason Mount matches Eriksen’s key passes per 90 tally from this season, despite playing over 4.5x the minutes of the Dane this season.

With Kai Havertz, Mount, and Hakim Ziyech all capable of playing as a No.10 at Chelsea, it begs the question as to where Eriksen would fit in. The answer? He wouldn’t.