Man City are closing in on Italian midfielder Jorginho Luiz Frello Filho after submitting a £44m bid according to Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis. The bid was quickly knocked back but City are confident they will get their man with an increased offer.
Jorginho has been on Pep Guardiola’s radar for some time after impressing the Spaniard in last season’s Champions League group clash between Napoli and Man City.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola praised the Italian’s passing range and ability to keep the ball under pressure saying, “I wanted to close them down the left, where they had Ghoulam, Hamsik, Jorginho and Insigne, this incredible ability to make short passes. We wanted to pin them back but it was impossible.” Pep was obviously impressed by what he saw. So we will take a look at what Jorginho can add to an already impressive mix of midfield options at Man City.
Despite being deployed chiefly in the holding midfielder role under Sarri at Napoli, Jorginho is capable of playing in the more advanced midfield positions although it has to be said that he is most comfortable dictating the play at the base of that midfield, linking defence and attack with his passing.
Jorginho is very happy with the ball at feet and is blessed with a great passing range, switching between short passes to his midfield partners and long balls to the wide men with seamless ease. Jorginho was the heartbeat of the Napoli team always on the move, making himself available whenever his teammates needed an option, exchanging short one-touch passes, and spreading the play out wide. He will keep the Man City midfield ticking.
Coupled with his great passing range is an awareness of where exactly he is on the pitch, how much time he has on the ball and how much space he is in. Whenever he receives the ball, he already knows exactly what he is going to do with it. Pass it or dribble out of danger, he always makes the right decision under pressure. This awareness has drawn the praise of his rivals, Nainggolan tired out by constantly chasing and trying to nullify the midfielder said:
"He always plays through the middle, with one-metre passes. It’s difficult to keep him back and intercept his play. He tires you out because he distributes the ball very quickly yet remains practically stationary. You must have a lot of energy to keep him behind the ball and defuse his intentions. He can be difficult to face"
Insigne, Callejon and co. thrived off his service, Jorginho finding them almost every time they made those hard to pick out diagonal runs between fullback and center back. It wasn’t just his ability to keep them that impressed, it was how quickly he saw their movement. As soon as they started a run, he almost telepathically read it and played the pass just in time to keep them onside.
That vision and speed of thought on the ball allowed Napoli to break down many stubborn Serie A defences with Jorginho able to find a spare man over and through the cluster of opposition players before they could sniff out the danger. And given the slightest of openings, he will pick out his man. A quality the pacey forwards at the Etihad will enjoy feeding off of.
He was such an important part of the team going forward that for a team to stand any chance against Napoli, they had to take him out of the game. Allegri famously instructed his star man Dybala to man-mark Jorginho to try and stop him from ripping his Juventus defence apart with his passes.
The Napoli man is also fully capable of getting his hands dirty, whether it’s flying in with a tackle or reading the play and making an interception, he can do it all. Jorginho chases, waits and when the chance presents itself, pounces and steals the ball back for his team. That ability to read the game was important to Napoli’s front foot approach of pressing the opposition and stealing the ball back as soon as possible.
Those qualities and similarity in style of play with City have made him an even more attractive target for Guardiola as he will not need a lot of time to adapt to the way City play.
One area of concern about the Napoli midfielder will be his ability to cope with the intensity of the Premier League. His small frame and lack of pace might become a problem if he is deployed alongside De Bruyne and Silva in the midfield.
Next: Which Manchester City players are going to the World Cup?
Of course, Guardiola showed against most critics predictions that a midfield of De Bruyne and Silva can dominate games. But the injection of physicality and legs from Fernadinho was crucial to City imposing themselves on the opposition. And perhaps more importantly, on the counter, Fernandinho had the legs to recover and stop the opposition hurting City.
Replacing him with the less mobile and less imposing Jorginho may cause some problems at the back. The fact that Guardiola’s team always have the ball might offset that concern but it can not be overlooked. Against tough opposition or when trying to shut up shop, Jorginho and Fernadinho might play together and give a more solid base in midfield although it might affect the fluidity of play.
All those are headaches Pep will have next season. But one thing is for sure, Jorginho will be a much welcome and perhaps much needed addition to the Cityzens midfield should the deal get over the line and the Italian plays his football in Manchester.