JORGINHO is the brains of Arsenal’s title tilt — on and off the field.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta rates the Italian midfielder as one of the most intelligent players he has coached, with all the qualities to become a manager himself.
Mikel Arteta believes Jorginho could become a good manager when he retiresGetty
But Jorginho is not waiting to hang up his boots before having a go at it.
Last weekend at Villa Park, Arteta had to watch from the stands as he served a touchline ban.
Meanwhile in the substitutes’ warm-up area, Jorginho was shouting at his team-mates for most of the first half and even called keeper David Raya over for a chinwag.
Jorginho said: “I called him, but we could not hear each other. And then he came over to have this chat.
“There was a ball that came out and he tried to play on the right side and I told him to play on the left because that’s what we trained before.
“We were just discussing what we trained and what he saw in that moment but it’s a decision that you make in that second.
“It’s something that comes naturally when Mikel is there or not there.
“Even more when he’s not there. So it was just trying to support the boys and trying to help them with advice that I could see from outside the pitch.
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“I think that’s one of my biggest strengths, my brain.
“Because all I’ve learnt from the past and over the years, all I try to do is pass it on to the boys and try and help them, grow them, to better understand the game.”
Which is why Arteta swooped for Jorginho last January in a transfer from Chelsea that took the man himself by surprise as much as everyone else.
Jorginho said: “I didn’t see that coming, to be honest.
“It happened in less than 48 hours. It was very, very quick.
“I saw the opportunity of working in a team that had an amazing project, of growing a team, to try and achieve.
“And I felt they wanted me to give this help to improve the team, bring good energy — and I am glad they knew I would always put the team first.
“The project convinced me straight away to come.”
When you think about it, paying £12million for a player of Jorginho’s calibre was a bit of a no-brainer.
Now 31, he is into his 11th top-flight season and has experience of winning the biggest trophies in football that few of his Arsenal team-mates can match.
In the course of a few months in 2021, he became a European champion for club and country, with Chelsea and Italy, as well as winning the Club World Cup and coming third in the Ballon d’Or.
He said: “That was a bit insane because I did not see that coming, either!
“It is just so amazing what happened. You just look back and see all the work you put in, it was worth it.
“That was an example for myself — anything is possible and I can share that with team-mates, friends, my kids, with anyone I am around.”
Arteta loves having Jorginho around his players, for the laughter he brings but most of all for his leadership.
The Spaniard said: “As a role model, you want to look at somebody with his career and the way he acts every single day.
“He understands his role in a great way and whatever you ask him to do he will do it at his best — and that’s something rare.
“The detail that he can go into, the understanding of what is happening live in the game, how he can correct it and how he can attract the attention of his team-mates to listen to him and do what he is telling them to do. It is very impressive.
“When he’s on the bench, he’s like another coach.”
Jorginho has spent more time on the bench than he would have liked.
But he said: “What I try to bring is always this experience, not just on the pitch but off the pitch.”
And the Italy star is full of praise for fellow midfielder Declan Rice, who joined Arsenal in a £105m deal in the summer.
Jorginho said: “He is a big player. Everyone can see that.
“His energy, his physicality, he has a big impact.
“The same as Kai Havertz. He came and can bring a lot.
“If everyone has the same mentality of wanting to learn and putting the team first, I think we can achieve a lot.”