After Jorginho was heavily criticized along with former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri, the midfielder reportedly had second thoughts over his future at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea defensive midfielder Jorginho has admitted that he considered leaving the club after his first season in the Premier League.
Jorginho joined the West London club prior to the 2018-19 campaign, arriving from Serie A side Napoli along with Italian manager Maurizio Sarri.
The Italian midfielder was considered the imperative factor to the way Sarri wanted to play his football, but Chelsea often struggled to adapt to the Italian manager’s preferred style resulting in abuse from the pundits and even the Chelsea faithful.
Sarri used Jorginho in a holding midfield role and pushed World Cup winner N’Golo Kante further up the pitch, out of his natural position, in a move that angered many Chelsea fans, questioning Sarri’s philosophy.
Jorginho has insisted that most of the criticism hurled at him wasn’t fair, but also served as motivation as he looked to find his feet in a new environment.
While speaking to FourFourTwo, the 28-year-old explained he was close to leaving Chelsea but wanted to prove all his doubters wrong, “Last year, fans were picking on me a lot because I’d arrived with another manager and, in my opinion, I ended up hearing some things that were honestly unfair, But I’ve never challenged the views of the fans and other people who criticised me. Quite the opposite, actually – it gave me strength because inside I knew they were wrong. Deep in my mind, it was like this: ‘I’m going to prove they’re wrong and work quietly as I’ve always done because it’s never been easy for me’.”
He further explained, “I’ve gone through moments like this at every club I’ve played for – this low moment when doubt can come and make you wonder, ‘Should I just leave this place? Maybe there isn’t room for me here’.”
