Scout report on liverpool target jorginho from anfieldforever.co.uk Whereas nowadays a football club’s interest in a player is rarely kept a secret due to the boom of social network sites and the fact that many tabloids now rely on such media to carry out their journalistic duties, there is still the odd occasion where a club will bring in a surprise signing without the world and their dog knowing about it. A fine example of such a case was when Liverpool recruited the Moroccan winger, Oussama Assaidi, from Heerenveen in Holland. When the social network sites and forums were full of talk of the impending signatures of Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Samed Yesil last summer, Assaidi sneaked in through the backdoor it only became knowledge once the club released photos of his medical with Dr Zaf Iqbal and the now obligatory interview popped up on the official site. So whilst all the talk this summer has been of the possible signings (and sightings) of Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, it now seems Italian midfielder, Jorginho, could be the next signing in Brendan Rodgers’ summer transfer window as it came to fruition only yesterday that Jorginho was high on Liverpool’s summer shopping list. So you may ask – “who is Jorginho”? To give him his full name, Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, is a central midfielder who ply’s his trade with Hellas Verona in Italy’s Serie B. The 20-year-old was born in Imbituba in Brazil but moved with his family to northern Italy as a teenager where he joined the local youth team at Verona. In June 2010, Jorginho was loaned out to Serie C2 side, AC Sambonifacese, where he played his first full senior season for the Veneto club – appearing 31 times and scoring one goal whilst providing ten assists from his central midfield position. The following season, he returned to his parent club and went on to make 42 appearances in Serie B and played three games in Verona’s Coppa Italia campaign. In the league campaign, Jorginho scored two goals and made two as Verona reached the Serie B promotion play-offs. Jorginho is primarily a central midfielder but can seamlessly slot into the defensive midfield position when asked to do so. In the former position, he is a classic box-to-box midfielder who seems to cover ground in next to no time which suits a counter-attacking style. He usually starts attacks from quite deep and either relies on his excellent vision and range to pinpoint accurate balls over a long distance or he will drive into open space using his exquisite close dribbling ability and pace as he looks to move the ball forward. He is naturally two-footed though lines up on the right of a three-man midfield. Jorginho is technically brilliant and relies on his first touch and excellent ball control to keep possession as he looks to start his team’s attacks. He is blessed with pace and is comfortable either looking to play a long pass to a team mate or going it alone due to his ability to run with the ball over long distances. As a defensive midfielder, Jorginho has a fantastic understanding of the position. He is more than happy to sit in front of his defence and break up attacks and is also willing to accept the ball from his defenders to begin counter-attacks of his own. When deployed in this defensive role, he rarely looks to cross the halfway line and relies on his long ball passing ability as he pings the ball from a deeper position – very much like Xabi Alonso does for Real Madrid and Spain. Although quite waif-looking, Jorginho possesses great stamina and has a good engine which means he will run all day long if you ask him to. He is a hard worker and works for the team. This has been highlighted due to the fact that he rarely looks to score goals or get into the box. He rather plays a pass to a more creative team mate or will look to play a killer ball than to shoot himself. What Jorginho will need to improve upon is his natural strength. He can easily be knocked off the ball and there are times where he does go to ground when he comes into contact with an opponent. So onto Liverpool’s reported interest? Having been scouted over the past season by AC Milan, Lazio and Napoli in Italy and Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in England it seems Liverpool are closest to capturing the young Italian Under-21 international. Jorginho’s agent, Joao Santos, seemed close to reaching an agreement for his client with both AC Milan and Lazio during the January transfer window; only for the deal to collapse due to the fee placed upon his head. However, it seems Liverpool have seen enough to sanction a move of around £8m which is the fee Verona are actively seeking for their star man. If Jorginho were to join Liverpool, he would more than likely occupy the same position as Jordan Henderson. Even though Henderson seemed to kick on during the second half of last season, Jorginho’s superior technical ability and energy would probably be enough to see him leapfrog Henderson for the box-to-box midfielder role. However, he could also quite easily cover the role currently occupied by Lucas Leiva. Whatever happens, it seems Brendan Rodgers is looking to bring in serious competition for the players already at the club and Jorginho would more than easily fit Rodgers’ ethos as he is a talented technician who could slot into Liverpool’s squad straightaway.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 22:25:01 +0000