Jorginho’s brilliant summer has continued after he was crowned UEFA’s Player of the Year following his double European triumph.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant few months – winning the Champions League final with Chelsea before mirroring those feats at international level as Italy became Euro 2020 champions.
And on Thursday he completed a hat-trick of accolades as he was crowned UEFA’s best player of last season.
The midfielder beat Chelsea team-mate N’Golo Kante and Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne to the top prize.
Chelsea’s No 5’s big moment was officially announced during Thursday’s Champions League group-stage draw.
Jorginho, Kante and De Bruyne had made the final three-man shortlist ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
Jorginho and Kante’s partnership was a huge strength for Chelsea as they went on to lift the trophy against the odds after defeating Manchester City in last season’s final in Porto.
And the former’s year got even better when two months later he won the European Championship with Italy after playing in every match.
Being crowned UEFA’s Player of the Year will boost his hopes of also claiming the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
If it transpires that Jorginho is crowned the winner of that prize, he would become only the second player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win it since 2008 after Luka Modric scooped the award three years ago.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Italy star is currently the joint-fifth favourite with the bookies to win the Ballon d’Or, behind Messi, Lewandowski and Kante, while alongside Kylian Mbappe.
With Jorginho cementing his place among the best midfielders in the world in the last year, Chelsea are also said to be planning to reward him by tabling a new long-term contract.
According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, Jorginho is one of several first-team players Chelsea want to tie down and club chiefs are expected to sit down with the player and his representatives in the coming weeks and months to propose a new contract.
The Euro 2020 winner has already underlined his importance to Chelsea this term with strong displays in all three of their matches, helping the club to win the UEFA Super Cup and make a perfect start to the new Premier League season.
Elsewhere, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy was named goalkeeper of the year while Ruben Dias of Manchester City clinched the defender of the year prize.
Jorginho’s Chelsea team-mate N’Golo Kante won the midfielder of the year award and Borussia Dortmund starlet was named forward of the year.
Thomas Tuchel was named manager of the year after steering Chelsea to European glory earlier this summer.
UEFA Men’s Player of the Year nominees
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium)
Runner-up for this award 12 months ago, the Belgian picked up where he left off as he inspired City to the Premier League title and through to the Champions League final where a facial injury forced him off.
Jorginho (Chelsea & Italy)
Became only the tenth player to win a European Cup and a EURO in the same year, starting every EURO 2020 game for Italy having missed just one in the Blues’ run to Champions League glory.
N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea & France)
Finished the Champions League season like a train, with Player of the Match performances in both legs of Chelsea’s semi-final win against Real Madrid and then the final against City.
The rest of the top ten
4 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, now at Paris & Argentina) – 148 points
5 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern & Poland) – 140 points
6 Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan, now at Paris & Italy) – 49 points
7 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 31 points
8 Raheem Sterling (Man. City & England) – 18 points
9 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus & Portugal) – 16 points
10 Erling Haaland (Dortmund & Norway) – 15 points
What is the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award?
For this award, players in Europe, irrespective of nationality, have been judged in regard to their performances over the whole season in all competitions – both domestically and internationally – at either club, or national team level.
How were the players shortlisted?
The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the following:
24 coaches of the teams which participated in this summer’s UEFA EURO 2020
80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48)
55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each of UEFA’s member associations
Jury members chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
Last year’s winner
Robert Lewandowski won the 2019/20 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award. The Bayern striker scored in every game en route to the UEFA Champions League final in Lisbon, picking up 15 goals and six assists as well as the trophy he had coveted for so long. He also hit 34 goals in 31 Bundesliga matches and six in five German Cup games.
