Jorginho is reminiscent of Claude Makelele but also the poster boy for a new era under Maurizio Sarri
When Sarri agreed to move to Chelsea he made sure that Jorginho came too, fans are starting to understand why
Back in the earliest days of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea takeover, with another Italian manager at the helm in the shape of Claudio Ranieri, we embarked on a spending spree like no club had ever done before.
£153 million later and our squad had been completely revamped; players such as Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Joe Cole, Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, Petr Cech… the list went on.
Yet there was one player, our final signing, who Ranieri truly wanted; Claude Makelele.
In his typically Ranieri-esque way, when describing Makelele, he said: "I have a fantastic watch,it is run by battery.
"Claude is my new battery.
"Claude is very important for the future of Chelsea, he was one of the first players on my list, he is a playmaker. The best."
Makelele topping Ranieri's list came as no real surprise, especially once we’d seen him play.
And much can be said in a similar vein for our new ‘battery’, Jorginho.
It was one of the summers worst kept secrets in terms of who would replace Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.
Maurizio Sarri’s appointment was delayed for an age due to legal wrangling with both Conte and Napoli, who wanted compensation to release Sarri despite already replacing him.
Sarri made it clear he wanted to bring players with him.
And in a good business move by the club, Chelsea managed to secure the release of not only the manager, but a player vital to the way he plays.
Jorginho signed for a reported £57 million; around £7 million more than the fee Napoli had previously agreed with Manchester City.
But the excess is understood to be the compensation fee for Sarri.
Bundling the deal into one made sure they came together and it seems to be working out better than we could have hoped at this stage.
Jorginho is everything about what will make this team tick under Sarri.
Those who’ve watched Chelsea’s pre-season will have noticed it already, but in the games against Huddersfield and Arsenal, Jorginho was directing play, telling other players when to come short, go long or when to play it safe.
He draws players out of position with clever one-twos and then puts a perfect ball in behind to put us on the front foot.
Jorginho is always probing, directing, instructing and bossing around far more ‘senior’ players despite only just arriving.
His passing stats in Europe last season were peerless.
And there are early indications that he will be one of the top again as one of the most consistent passers in Europe at currently levels.
But what’s frightening is that he will get even better.
Already able to speak English and quickly settled into both life and the game in England, Chelsea have found themselves a new playmaker.
Though to dismiss him as a mere battery in a watch would be to do him a massive disservice.
He is the conductor, the metronome, the puppeteer, the future direction and also the new face of what this Chelsea hope to become under Sarri.
