The Italy international spoke out on his future after making his first appearance for the Blues in four months
Jorginho has acknowledged the rumours of his impending Chelsea exit, but insists he is completely “focused” on helping the team finish the season strongly.
The Blues signed the Italy international from Napoli for an initial fee of £50 million ($63m) in the summer of 2018, as the midfielder followed his former head coach Maurizio Sarri to Stamford Bridge.
The 28-year-old quickly adapted to the intensity of Premier League football, and helped the Blues secure a third-place finish while also making a big contribution during their run to Europa League glory last season.
Sarri returned to Italy to take the top job at Juventus at the end of the campaign, but Jorginho retained a place in Chelsea’s starting line-up under the 61-year-old’s successor Frank Lampard.
The former Napoli star has taken in 38 appearances in all competitions this term, helping Lampard’s men move into contention for a top-four finish and reach the latter stages of both the FA Cup and Champions League.
However, he has only featured once for the Blues since March, having slipped down the squad pecking order since the resumption of the season on June 17.
Jorginho’s solitary outing came as a second-half substitute during Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, with Lampard explaining pre-match that his decision to pick Billy Gilmour over the Italy international was purely tactical.
Sarri is reportedly eager to reunite with Jorginho at Juve when the summer transfer window opens, but the experienced playmaker insists that he hasn’t been in contact with anyone over a potential move away from west London.
The Chelsea star told the club’s official website after the victory at Selhurst Park: “I just have to stay focused on when the team needs me.
“There have been rumours but I haven’t heard anything, I am just focusing on finishing the season well with Chelsea and qualifying for the Champions League.”
Olivier Giroud, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham grabbed the goals for the Blues against a spirited Palace side, who very nearly earned a point after a dramatic late siege on Kepa Arrizabalaga’s net.
Jorginho says Chelsea need to be more ruthless in the final third to avoid a similar scenario in future fixtures, as he added: “Overall it was a good performance.
“We created opportunities, and we just need to be more effective when we have chances upfront. We like to suffer.
“We need to learn to finish the game before the last minute, to be more clinical to avoid that tension at the end, but we are creating opportunities which is a positive.”
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