Jorginho to Manchester City
The transfer of Napoli’s defensive midfielder Jorginho to Manchester City is set to be made official within hours.
Pep Guardiola was after Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred in January, but a deal couldn’t be reached. Manchester City’s manager came out of the Champions League match with Napoli back in March impressed with Jorginho. The Fred transfer wasn’t progressing, so City’s boss opted to pursue the 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder instead.
Napoli’s reluctance to sell its prized asset saw an initial bid rejected, but when a player wants to leave, in today’s football, he gets his wish granted. Jorginho’s agent Joao Santos made his client’s desire to join the Premier League champions clear. Talks continued and a fee in the range of €50 million was supposedly agreed at the beginning of June.
Even though personal terms were agreed, talks stalled over minor transfer details, mainly €2.5million worth of bonus payments. Aurelio De Laurentis drives a hard bargain. He let Maurizio Sarri go because the former Napoli manager (and former bank employee) wanted too much money. After €50 million, a couple more might seem like nit-picking to us, but not to Napoli’s owner.
Negotiations
The negotiations have dragged on for weeks, but latest reports suggest the impasse has been breached. This is what Joao Santos had to say on Friday:
“I’m in my house in England, waiting for a call from [sporting director Cristiano] Giuntoli or [owner Aurelio] De Laurentiis. When it arrives, I will go to meet the leadership of Manchester City.”
Jorginho is seen as one of the best passers among defensive midfielders in Europe, thus the high asking price. Even though he was born in Brazil, he spent his youth career in Verona, which is why he holds a double Brazilian and Italian citizenship. He joined Napoli in 2014 and played sporadically for the first few seasons. After surviving the learning curve, he took off and blossomed into an everyday starter. He was irreplaceable in Napoli’s starting lineup under Sarri.
In Manchester City, Jorginho will be an upgrade to 33-year-old Fernandinho and will eventually become his full-time replacement. Expect a confirmation on Pep Guardiola’s first summer signing to come soon.
