Pep Guardiola claims it would have been “a mistake” for Jorginho to join Manchester City if he really want to sign for Chelsea.
City missed out on Jorginho to Chelsea, even though they had agreed a deal worth just over £44million with Napoli for the Italy midfielder.
Jorginho was Guardiola’s top midfield target, but the City boss insists he was not disappointed at missing out on him.
“No, I’m not disappointed,” he said. “We tried, but at the end all my advice for the players is that they have to go where they want to go.
“For the guy, it would have been a mistake for him and for us if he had decided to come here when he wanted to go with Maurizio and Chelsea.
“So it is important that English football has received an exceptional player and at the end if they want to come, it’s better they come.
“If he decides to go to Chelsea for the reasons he has explained or will explain, then all the best for him.”
Jorginho holds both Italian and Brazilian citizenship, he is eligible to play for both the Italian and Brazilian national teams. In 2012, he was called up for the first time for Italy U21.
In 2014, Jorginho expressed his desire to represent Italy rather than Brazil internationally and he received his first call-up to the Italy senior squad in March 2016, under manager Antonio Conte, for the team’s international friendlies against Spain and Germany. He made his international debut for Italy on 24 March, coming on as a last-minute substitute for Marco Parolo in a 1–1 draw against Spain at the Stadio Friuli in Udine. After initially being included in Conte’s preliminary 30-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, on 31 May, Jorginho was later excluded from the final 23-man squad.
In spite of his positive club form for Napoli, Jorginho was not initially called up to the Italian side under Conte’s successor, Gian Piero Ventura. Although rumours circled in the media regarding the possibility of Brazil’s coach Tite calling Jorginho up to his squad in autumn 2017, as he had not yet appeared for Italy in a competitive match, Jorginho denied rumours that he wanted to switch to the Brazilian national team. He later made his first competitive appearance for Italy under manager Ventura in a 0–0 home draw against Sweden on 13 November, in the second leg of the World Cup play-offs against Sweden, at the San Siro Stadium in Milan; however, Italy’s 1–0 away loss in the first leg on 10 November saw Sweden advance on aggregate, meaning that Italy had failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
On 18 January 2014, he joined Napoli in a co-ownership deal with Verona for four and a half years On 12 February, he scored the last goal as Napoli overturned a 3–2 first-leg deficit to beat Roma and reach the 2014 Coppa Italia Final. n the final, on 3 May, Jorginho played the full 90 minutes as Napoli defeated Fiorentina 3–1.
In the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana in Doha on 22 December 2014, Jorginho entered the game against Juventus inthe second half of extra time in place of Jonathan de Guzmán. He took Napoli’s first spot-kick in the penalty shootout, and although Gianluigi Buffon saved it, Napoli were eventually victorious. While initially struggling to get into manager Rafael Benítez’s lineup, Jorginho’s fortunes changed with the appointment of Maurizio Sarri who was key to his development. In 2017 Jorginho had a breakthrough season with Napoli and was integral to their Serie A title challenge.
On 14 July 2018, Jorginho signed for English team Chelsea on a five-year contract, for a transfer fee of £50m with £7m in potential add-ons. On the same day, the club announced via their official website that he would wear the number 5 shirt. According to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, he was previously close to joining Manchester City