Conte explains how Chelsea move turned Jorginho into a world class midfielder

Stefan Bienkowski

Updated: 10 Jul 2021 09:38 BST
3 min read

Agent of Jorginho not ruling out a return to Napoli if Sarri is in charge — © ProShots

Antonio Conte believes Italian defender Jorginho has come on leaps and bounds as a player since he made his move to Chelsea.

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The Brazilian-born talent made his name in Serie A over the course of a four-year spell with Napoli.

Jorginho then made the move to the Premier League in 2018 when Chelsea signed the player in a deal worth around €57 million.

Since then the Italy international has established himself as one of the Stamford Bridge side’s most important players and was a crucial cog in Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League winning machine.

Despite playing primarily as a defensive or holding midfielder in the Chelsea team, Jorginho still managed to bag eight goals and two assists in all competitions for the London club last season.

And Conte, who coached Jorginho as manager of Italy, believes the move to England has worked wonders for the midfielder and undoubtedly changed him as a player.

© ProShots - Jorginho has been a crucial part of Thomas Tuchel's side

“I think for Jorginho, it’s been very, very important to play in a league like England,” Conte said in an interview with the Telegraph.

“Because to play in this competition in England, it’s important to play with intensity, to improve your passing and to be very, very fast in your thoughts. But at the same time, you have to improve physically.

“In England, Jorginho improved a lot and he is now a stronger player, if you compare him to the player at Napoli.

“He has always been a player who likes to play football and to be the playmaker, but physically he has improved a lot. This is great for him and for the national team.”

Will Chelsea have a busy summer transfer window?

With a squad that just won the Champions League, Chelsea would be forgiven for keeping their powder dry this summer and instead opting to rely on their current squad for next season.

And that certainly seems to be the case with the club’s activity to date. While a number of squad players have been sold, Chelsea have yet to get serious about big signings this summer, despite being linked with stars like Declan Rice, Erling Haaland, Jules Kounde and Jack Grealish.

The Stamford Bridge may decide to blow their budget on any of the aforementioned stars in the coming months but there’s no real proof to suggest they will need to.