Ahead of Maurizio Sarri's first match in charge of Chelsea, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis accused his former manager of trying to 'dismantle' his team by signing all of their players.
Judging by the way Jorginho pulled the Premier League side together on his debut in Perth on Monday, dictating play as Sarri's man in the middle, they have sold a special talent.
Napoli have lost their glue, the midfield general who held them together. Jorginho followed Sarri to London in a £57million move last week and stood out in the 'Sarri-ball' system.
It is one he knows well, after all. In the first half, Chelsea were all over Perth Glory. They scored only once - a Pedro goal in the fifth minute - but created chance after chance.
Jorginho, born in Brazil but now an Italy international, made 101 touches, completed 92 passes, then was hooked at half-time. Chelsea struggled to find the same rhythm from then on.
As Sarri summarised afterwards: 'Something good in the first half, less in the second half. We lost the distance between the defenders and midfielders.'
The difference? Jorginho. Asked about Napoli's grudge, Sarri said: 'I don't want to answer any more to De Laurentiis.'
Tougher tests await Chelsea than this, of course. Perth Glory finished eighth out of 10 teams in the Australian A-League. Yet this first taste of Chelsea under Sarri still told us a few things.
One was that the Italian indicated he will stand by the 4-3-3 set-up that made him so popular at Napoli. Another was that Ross Barkley can have a big part to play this season.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise, though, was the performance of Callum Hudson-Odoi. The 17-year-old started and wreaked havoc on the left wing, creating Pedro's winner.
There was slick one-touch passing from Chelsea, largely orchestrated by Jorginho, and they tirelessly pressed their opponents throughout.
Chelsea will now return to London for further sessions under Sarri before facing Inter Milan in France and Arsenal in Dublin. Their new master in midfield showed he can do it on a cold, wet night in Perth. Very soon, his next challenge will be to get to grips with the Premier League. That is a different animal, but this was a promising start.
_kjabinav_
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i think kante may be out of sarris plan...considering his 4 3 3 and where to fit him? he may be tested with jorginho and fabregas playing instead of barkley..but barkley is way better than fab in the cam role..but fab showed what he is worth against perth so it will be interesting to see sarri use the midfield