Just a few weeks ago it was taken as given that Jorginho would be joining Manchester City. Many sites like the Manchester Evening News were listing it as a done deal pretty much, and fans were already working out their “Best XI”s for next season with the Italy international as a key component.
But in the end, he has signed for Chelsea, after a long summer where it seemed we were never that close to getting our man.
The key was getting his coach from Napoli, Maurizio Sarri of course. That persuaded the player that he would be able to settle into his new team straight away. But it also made the negotiations with Napoli easier, as we were buying two assets at the same time.
If you go on the Evening Standard’s report of the initial transfer deal, we also had a structure of deal that was more favourable financially for Napoli. We offered £51.25m up front according to Simon Johnson, while City wanted to pay £48.6m in installments.
From the Italian club’s perspective it was an easy call then.
