Chelsea midfielder Jorginho reflects on his Ballon d’Or chances

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has spoken about his chances of joining the Ballon d’Or winners list later this month.

The Italy international struggled for form and consistency at Chelsea during the first half of the previous season, but his fortunes changed at the turn of the year.

The Blues replaced Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel as their head coach, and the German brought the best out of Jorginho in midfield alongside N’Golo Kante.

Jorginho played a key role for the west London giants as they won the second Champions League title in their history. The Blues beat Manchester City by a 1-0 scoreline.

He went on to play a starring role for Italy at the European Championships. The Azzurri were crowned European champions for the second time after 53 years.

Jorginho has already been acknowledged for his efforts with the UEFA Player of the Year accolade, and he is regarded as a solid contender for the Ballon d’Or.

However, Lionel Messi is the front-runner to win his seventh award. Jorginho has now taken a swipe saying that goals alone should not determine the winner.

He told Globo Esporte: “It’s not up to me to say if I should win the Ballon d’Or, but it would be an incentive for other players, to show that not only goals are taken into account.”

“I don’t want to have too many expectations, but I would be hypocritical if I said I don’t think about it.

“It’s great if it happens, but if it doesn’t, I won’t complain. I keep my feet on the ground and I focus on something else – I’ve already won the best player of the year by UEFA.”

Jorginho has had a tremendous year for club and country, but he could still fall short in the Ballon d’Or race after Messi finally got his hands on an international trophy.

The Argentine had an excellent final campaign with Barcelona, bagging 38 goals and 14 assists from 47 appearances across all competitions.

He went on to excel for his national team at Copa America. The 34-year-old bagged a sublime tally of four goals and five assists en route to beating Brazil in the final.

He appears favourite for the prize. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski could also be in the running. He was the front-runner last year before the ceremony was cancelled.

France Football cancelled the annual event because of the lack of a sufficiently level playing field. Lewandowski may get sympathy votes this time around to boost his chances.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com.

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