Jorginho reveals he was motivated to EMBARASS fans who called him 'Sarri's son'

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has admitted he was spurred onto his sensational year of trophies and personal accolades by using criticism from supporters as motivation.

Having won Euro 2020 with Italy and the Champions League at club level, Jorginho enjoyed the finest 12 months of his career and silenced his doubters in the process.

His current fortunes are a stark turnaround from the rocky period at the start of his time at Chelsea, which saw him lambasted and labelled Maurizio Sarri's 'son'.

Former boss Sarri brought Jorginho with him to Stamford Bridge in 2018 on the same day he took up the hotseat and went on to use him regularly.

Parts of the fanbase at the club became increasingly irked at his lack of goals or assists, and Jorginho has now revealed he was keen to leave them 'embarrassed'.

'My start at Chelsea made me miss it [Napoli] even more,' he wrote in a piece for The Players' Tribune. 'We all remember what they were saying, right? I was too slow. I was too weak. I was Sarri's son. Man, it made me so angry.

'But listen, they underestimated me. You see, I've had a turbulent start at every club I've been with. Every club. It's incredible.

'When I came to Verona, nobody wanted me. They sent me on loan to the fourth division. Nobody wanted me there either. But I kept working and I won respect. I went back to Verona and we went up to Serie A.

'I had a hard year at Napoli, too, and then Sarri came and changed everything.

'So the Chelsea stuff? Puh! I just used the criticism as fuel. I was thinking, "These people are going to be embarrassed."

'And now I'm sitting here with a Europa League title and a Champions League title. So to all the critics, I just want to say one thing. Thank you. Really, thank you all.'

His record in front of goal may have been savaged, but Jorginho completed arguably the best hat-trick of them all by being crowned UEFA's Player of the Year.

The accolade came after his European double, and Jorginho beat his Chelsea team-mate N'Golo Kante and Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne to the prize.

He was officially announced as the winner during the Champions League group stage draw, and again thanked his critics for helping to push him on to success.

'I'm very sorry I can't be there at his important moment due to the restrictions but I wanted to say that I'm very happy with this award,' Jorginho said.

'I would like to say thank to you all the people who made their contribution to making this happen.

'A big thanks from the heart to all the people who helped me on this journey, from family to friends, to the supporters and my teammates and to people who didn't believe in me.

'They motivated me to work even more so thanks to them as well. I've very happy, a hug to everybody.'

Becoming the Player of the Year will boost Jorginho's unlikely hopes of also scooping up this year's prestigious Ballon d'Or.

If he were to sensationally win it, he would become only second player other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to have clinched it since 2008.