Former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has revealed that Jorginho was one of the “biggest reasons” he left Stamford Bridge in January of 2019.
Fabregas has left the Premier League over two years ago now when Maurizio Sarri was in charge at the London club to join AS Monaco.
Under Sarri, the Spaniard made just six Premier League appearances, starting only one game, with the Italian manager often opting with a three-man midfielder, with Jorginho at the heart of it.
Now, over two years after Fabregas’ exit, the ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star has been talking about the “very smart” Jorginho.
The Italy midfielder was instrumental in his country’s Euro 2020 opener as they dispatched Turkey 3-0. Jorginho was quiet, but effective, as he so often is for his club and country – something Fabregas discussed before kick-off.
“One of the biggest reasons I left Chelsea is because of him,” the former Chelsea man said on BBC One.
“He’s a very smart player, intelligent, a very good passer of the ball. The only thing I can say about him sometimes is he releases the ball too quickly when he can play forward.
- Why Xhaka was frustrated by Wenger and wants to play for Mourinho
- ‘Maybe he goes to Tottenham next!’ – Mourinho ‘very upset’ with Chelsea star
- France rift deepens as Mbappe ‘rejects apology’ from Giroud ahead of the Euros
“He makes the team tick. At Chelsea, he has N’Golo Kante protecting him all the time, and I know that’s a big thing, I don’t know here how he will cope at a big, big game at the Euros.
“He’s a really good player and tactically, he knows what to do because of the coach’s methodology, it helps him a lot.”
His fellow pundit, Ferdinand, echoed Fabregas’ thoughts about Jorginho, and also spoke about how international football suits hjs style of play more than it does at the club level.
Ferdinand said: “That’s where he’s helped in this team, Kante helps him at Chelsea but he’s helped more tactically here in terms of the shape, in terms of big spaces protecting the centre-backs – I think he needs that as well in a team like this with slow centre-backs.”
