Chelsea midfielder Jorginho is enjoying the best spell of his Blues career since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, scooping a Champions League title, a EURO 2020 crown with Italy, a UEFA Super Cup trophy and the Men’s Player of the Year award for the organisation. The midfielder was restored to the starting lineup for the win over Zenit in the Champions League on Tuesday night and reflected on his wonderful 2021 so far, where he has proved quite a few doubters wrong having joined the Blues in 2018 under Maurizo Sarri.
Jorginho said: “I’m just really, really happy. The only thing I can say is that I’m proud. Everything I do is to make my family and my friends proud of me, so I’m really, really happy and I think I need to say thank you to everyone who was involved somehow helping me to achieve this because just me, that wouldn’t be possible. So I’m really grateful to everyone and it’s a thank you for them, you know.”
Under Tuchel, Jorginho has started 24 of 36 games in all competitions, with the head coach giving the Italian as much rest as he possibly can while realising he is a key player for the Blues. A player who previously polarised opinion, Jorginho’s qualities have well and truly come to the fore in the past nine months and the arrival of Tuchel has been a huge part in rejuvenating the player. Jorginho added that Tuchel is a perfectionist, no real surprise there if we’re being honest, but you cannot argue with the results the German has had since replacing Lampard at the helm back in January.
Jorginho said: “He works hard, he wants the best from us, so he tries to give his best as well to help everyone because he knows what we can give and that’s what he demands. But I think it’s two different guys because the guy you see on the touchline is not the same guy outside the pitch. He is very friendly outside the pitch and on the pitch he is just focussed and wants to win the games and wants the best from us.”
