Chelsea star still ‘dreams’ of working with Pep Guardiola despite failed Man City move
Integral Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has admitted his ‘dream’ is to play under Pep Guardiola after a transfer to Manchester City fell through in July 2018.
The central midfielder, who came third in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, joined Chelsea from Napoli in a £50million deal. City had been the frontrunners to land his signature before that, but Napoli only wanted to do business with the Stamford Bridge club.
As such, Jorginho went straight into Chelsea’s midfield. He went on to feature in all but one of the Blues’ Premier League matches in his debut campaign, scoring twice. He also featured in the Carabao Cup final defeat to City.
However, the season did end in success for Chelsea as they beat Arsenal 4-1 in Baku to lift the Europa League trophy.
Jorginho’s influence began to wane slightly during Frank Lampard’s time in charge, although he is now an important cog in the Chelsea wheel under Thomas Tuchel.
He has helped the west London outfit to win the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup since Tuchel arrived last January.
The Italian has now spoken about his failed move to City. However, he did not want to refer to the Premier League leaders initially.
Jorginho ‘wasn’t supposed’ to join Chelsea
“I wasn’t supposed to come to Chelsea,” Jorginho told Brazilian journalist Ale Oliveira (via 90Min). “I was supposed to have arrived at another club. Another English club.
“And then it happened as it happened and I arrived at Chelsea. So with Chelsea everything happened very fast. When I saw their offer, I was already in London and I said ‘let’s go’.”
The 30-year-old was then pressed on his admiration for Guardiola. He went on to reveal that the idea of working with Guardiola was the reason for him wanting to leave Napoli.
When asked if he still holds the ‘dream’ of playing under the City boss, Jorginho continued: “I have. I don’t know if it will [happen]. But yeah, he’s a reference.
“When I was a kid, I watched his Barcelona win everything with Ronaldinho, Xavi, Iniesta.”
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Frank Lampard contacts Chelsea over star
Meanwhile, Everton manager Frank Lampard has already spoken to Chelsea about his transfer interest in Conor Gallagher, TEAMtalk understands.
The Chelsea legend was influential to Everton’s late deals in the January transfer window. His arrival helped them to sign Donny van de Beek on loan from Manchester United.
The Toffees also agreed a £40m deal with Tottenham for Englishman Dele Alli.
Gallagher has been hugely impressive while on loan at Crystal Palace this term. And Lampard wants to ensure Everton are at the front of the queue to land the midfielder, should Chelsea let him leave temporarily this summer.
He has therefore not been shy to register interest in signing the midfielder for Everton.
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