Manchester City had agreement with Jorginho but not with Napoli - agent

Posted Friday, September 07, 2018 by ESPN

Jorginho's agent has admitted that Manchester City had an agreement to sign his client last summer but insisted that they never finalised a deal with Napoli.

Chelsea signed Jorginho as part of the deal that released Maurizio Sarri from his Napoli contract to replace Antonio Conte as their head coach in July, agreeing to pay around £56 million to bring both men to Stamford Bridge.

City were livid at having lost out on Pep Guardiola's top midfield target after weeks of talks, and there were accusations that Napoli had bullied Jorginho into signing for Chelsea rather than the Premier League champions as a way of resolving the deadlocked Sarri negotiations.

But while the Italy international's agent Joao Santos revealed that City were a long way down the road towards getting their man, he denied that he or Napoli had acted dishonourably.

"It was all done with Jorginho [and City]," Santos told Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli. "There was an agreement, but there was no agreement between the clubs. All parties have to agree, and one did not.

"Then Chelsea asked what the situation was after Sarri arrived and Jorginho went to London."

Jorginho has made an immediate impact at Stamford Bridge, playing every minute of Chelsea's first four Premier League matches and completing 417 passes from the base of midfield, 48 more than any other player in the division.

"He's really enjoying it at Chelsea, the team is on a roll and has won four matches out of four," Santos added. "It's a great start.

"Going to Chelsea was a unique opportunity, the career of a player is very short and now we hope for the best."

Speaking in a news conference on Italy duty earlier this week, Jorginho said that he is enjoying life in the Premier League but admitted that he forged a lasting bond with Napoli in his four years at San Paolo and hopes to return to Serie A one day.