One of the most surprising deals of the summer in the Arthur-Pjanic swap deal could have almost not happened this summer.
The Bosnian could have joined Chelsea this summer, in a swap deal with Jorginho which would see the Italian Regista link up with Maurizio Sarri for the third time in his career after working together at Napoli and Chelsea.
However, plans to bring Jorginho back to Italy were scrapped by the Italian Champions after Maurizio Sarri was sacked earlier this year following Juventus’ Champions League exit agianst Lyon.
Speaking on his podcast, “Here We Go”, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed that the plans were scrapped almost entirely due to the sacking of the Italian tactician.
On the other side of things, Pjanic wanted Barcelona move much more than a transfer to Chelsea. That also played a part in the move that saw Arthur join Juventus during the summer transfer window.
Pjanic has proven himself to be an excellent passer and a brilliant striker of the dead ball as well. Chelsea could have used some of his creativity in the heart of the park, but things have turned out otherwise.
While Pjanic will have considerable difficulty breaking into the current Barcelona midfield, he could probably have played more minutes under Frank Lampard at Chelsea as a partnership with a holding midfielder in the form of Kovacic or Kante could have been fruitful for the Blues.
Jorginho, on the other hand has seen his stock drop among supporters following the weaknesses in his game exposed. The Italian is not the fastest, nor the strongest player in the heart of the park.
And that makes him commit to fouls to stop counter attacks, or often be completely overpowered by much more physical or faster opponents.
However, the regista can still play a brilliant pass anytime on the pitch and can dictate the pace beautifully. In addition, he provides a leadership quality in midfield which is very much required and is the current vice captain of the Blues.
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