A combination of a heart condition, the inevitable affect of ageing and the arrival of Nemanja Matić at Old Trafford last summer have meant Michael Carrick is yet to make a Premier League appearance for Manchester United this season. As such, few were surprised when the 36-year-old club captain recently announced his intention to retire at the end of the current campaign.
The midfield conductor for five Premier League title wins, as well as United’s 2008 Champions League triumph, Carrick’s influence, though it has waned over the last 12 months, will be missed inside Old Trafford.
But José Mourinho appears to have identified the man he sees as the ideal successor to the former West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur playmaker: Napoli’s Jorginho.
According to Italian outlet Rai Sport, United have already made contact with the Brazil-born Italy international’s representatives, putting the wheels in motion for a future move.
Currently starring in Napoli’s surge to the summit of Serie A, with the Partenopei aiming to end Juventus‘ six-year monopoly of the Scudetto, Jorginho has earned rave reviews for his ability to dictate the tempo of his side’s play, create chances for team-mates with his vision and passing technique and break up opposition moves through astute positioning and anticipation.
Such attributes appear to make the 26-year-old the ideal candidate to replace Carrick in the United midfield. Although Matić has come in and added physicality and top-level experience this season, and while the Red Devils have also been linked with moves for the likes of Julian Weigl and Fabinho, none mirror Carrick’s skill set in his peak quite like Jorginho.
The former Verona man shares Carrick’s positional intelligence, range of passing, reading of the game and calming influence. Indeed, there was outcry in Italy when national team boss Gian Piero Ventura continually overlooked Jorginho throughout the Azzurri‘s doomed 2018 World Cup qualification campaign – he still only has three full caps to his name – with many fans feeling the poise and incision he could have offered might have made the difference.
When it comes to metronomic passers with the ability to bend the tempo of games to their will, there are currently few in Europe on Jorginho’s level. Sitting at the base of Napoli’s midfield three, he is the conduit through which almost all the attacking moves are filtered for Maurizio Sarri’s thrilling side.
Mourinho is not only looking for a player who can fill the void Carrick will leave behind, though: he is also searching for a deep-lying playmaker who can dovetail with Paul Pogba, allowing the Frenchman the ability to roam from his midfield station, and someone who can pick out the £89million man in advanced positions.
While Matić has done an admirable job thus far at Old Trafford and has certainly aided Pogba’s form this term, adding Jorginho to the base of the United midfield would replicate the relationship Pogba enjoyed with Andrea Pirlo at Juventus.
The Red Devils are still seeking the best midfield combination to enable Pogba to thrive, and with Jorginho playing the Pirlo role at the base of a trio, Matić, Ander Herrera or potentially another new arrival mimicking Arturo Vidal’s energy in a shuttling role on the right, Mourinho could strike the perfect balance.
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