Jorginho hopes Sarri stays and warns of Napoli fans' anger if he goes to Juve

Jorginho feels it would be "sad" were Maurizio Sarri to leave Chelsea after a single season in charge.

Sarri led the Blues to a third-place finish in the Premier League and his side thumped Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final in 2018-19. Chelsea also reached the final of the EFL Cup, losing to Manchester City on penalties, but the club's fans regularly aired their disapproval over Sarri's tactics. Jorginho followed Sarri to Stamford Bridge from Napoli last year but the midfielder could be about to see his boss return to Italy, with Serie A champions Juventus said to be ready to appoint him as Massimiliano Allegri's successor.

Italy international Jorginho, though, hopes Sarri remains in charge of Chelsea for 2019-20 and warns the Napoli fan base could feel "betrayed" if he moves to Turin.

"It would be sad because I think he did a good job," Jorginho told a news conference of rumours Sarri could leave. We finished third in the Premier League, we won the Europa League and we reached the EFL Cup final despite all the critics. It was a good first season in Chelsea. It would be sad for everyone. The Napoli fans still have him in their hearts; it's normal that they could get angry. They could treat it as a betrayal; they're like that. We'll see what happens."

 

May 29, 2019

Emerson Palmieri also feels Sarri should stay in London for a second season.

"It's difficult to talk about that," the defender said of the speculation. "I think he had - and we had - a good season. It's not been easy, but he has to stay at Chelsea. Never say never in football, though. We have to keep on doing our job."

As well as Sarri, Jorginho was criticised by sections of the Chelsea support for his perceived negativity in possession in his first term in England. However, the 27-year-old believes he has proved his doubters wrong.

"I received a lot of criticism maybe because in England they are not accustomed to seeing a playmaker with my skills," he added. "Because I'm not a physical player but I think more about playing the ball. It was difficult for them to understand it because the results were not good. They needed to find someone to blame. But I always believed in myself and I kept going. At the end, I showed to everyone that they were wrong."