An explanation for Jorginho’s surprise absence from Chelsea’s latest squad appears to have been forthcoming on Monday.
Blades downed
Thomas Tuchel’s men were of course back in action a little over 24 hours ago, in an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Sheffield United.
Chelsea headed into proceedings no doubt brimming with confidence, after booking their spot in the last-8 of the Champions League courtesy of an impressive 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid during the week.
And, when all was said and done in west London on Sunday afternoon, a similar scoreline saw Tuchel and co. march on domestically, too.
The game’s scoring was opened midway through the first-half, when Ben Chilwell’s drilled effort from the edge of the area deflected home off Oliver Norwood:
Chilwell’s shot finds a way in 💥#EmiratesFACup @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/hAWFx1M4Xy
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) March 21, 2021
Sheffield United, to their credit, soon worked their way back into proceedings, and should really have levelled things up when David McGoldrick somehow directed a header from point-blank range beyond Kepa’s far post.
The Blades’ profligacy, though, soon proved costly, as Chelsea put the clash to bed once and for all deep into injury-time, through Hakim Ziyech:
Hakim the dream 🤩#EmiratesFACup @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/dChHnN7HlX
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) March 21, 2021
Jorginho sidelined
The hosts’ somewhat surprising struggles to put away a Championship-bound Sheffield United side came with Thomas Tuchel having opted to rotate his squad on Sunday.
The likes of Emerson Palmieri, Billy Gilmour and Christian Pulisic were handed rare starts, with a number of first-choice regulars afforded some much needed rest.
One individual, however, who was rather surprisingly not even named on the bench for yesterday’s clash was Jorginho.
The Italian has played a central role since Tuchel’s appointment at Stamford Bridge, with no explanation, at the time, having been forthcoming for his absence.
As outlined above, though, on Monday, an insight into the situation has been provided.
This comes with the former Napoli man having also been omitted from Italy’s squad for the country’s upcoming round of World Cup qualifiers.
Speaking in a press conference this afternoon, Roberto Mancini was therefore drawn on those to have been left out of his latest camp, with the Azzurri boss having gone on to hint that Jorginho is injured.
‘We’re missing Jorginho’, Mancini simply explained, suggesting that he was unavailable for selection.
#Azzurri 🇮🇹
🎙️ #Mancini: “We’re missing #Jorginho, #Cristante will probably return home and we’ll see what happens with the Inter guys. We have a couple of problems in midfield.”#WCQ #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/5Tvv6nTlDx
— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@azzurri) March 22, 2021
Such news has since been backed elsewhere online, with Twitter account CarefreeYouth – generally regarded as reliable when it comes to matters Chelsea related – having claimed that the midfielder has picked up ‘a knock on his knee’:
Jorginho picked up a knock on his knee. This is the reason he didn’t play vs Sheffield United and misses the international break
— CarefreeYouth (@CarefreeYouth) March 22, 2021
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