Jorginho

Italian midfielder Jorginho’s already brilliant career reached new heights in 2021. After winning the Champions League with Chelsea, he was voted UEFA Men’s Player of the Year by both UEFA. He was also named to the FIFA FIFPro World11 and UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season. He has also won the Euros with Italy and the Europa League, Super Cup, and FIFA World Club Cup with Chelsea. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he is rated by many as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Jorginho was born Jorge Luiz Frello Filho in the Brazilian port town of Imbituba in December 1991. His love of the beautiful game was inspired by his mother and he moved to Italy when he was 15 to pursue his career. He played with Hellas Veronas and Sambonifacese before establishing himself as a rising star with Serie A side Napoli. With them, he won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italia in 2014, ultimately making over 130 appearances for them before Chelsea managed to secure his signature for a massive £50 million (plus add-ons). He has thrived at Stamford Bridge, becoming one of the star attractions of the most famous football league in the world.

Jorginho holds both Brazilian and Italian citizenship and even before joining Napoli, he was talking of his desire to play for Italy. He was first called up to their Under-21 squad in 2012 and won his first senior cap in 2017. Since then, he has helped to steer them to victory at the European Championships—a competition second only to the World Cup—becoming one of the hardest-working and most-celebrated players of the tournament in the process.