Pep Guardiola: 'I thought Manchester City had signed Jorginho'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 04 August 2018

Pep Guardiola admits that Manchester City thought they had managed to sign Jorginho from Napoli this summer before the Italy midfielder opted for Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola has claimed that Manchester City thought they had managed to sign Jorginho from Napoli.

Throughout the summer, the Italy international was widely expected to join the Premier League champions.

However, Jorginho instead opted to reunite with Maurizio Sarri, his former manager at Stadio San Paolo, and move to Chelsea.

When asked by Sky Sports News how close Man City had come to signing the 26-year-old, Guardiola replied : "We were close but in the end Jorginho decided to stay with Sarri.

"I've said before that I want players who want to come here. He didn't want that. We tried, we believed it was done but at the last turn he decided on Chelsea.

"It's quite similar to Alexis Sanchez. Nothing to say but good luck at Chelsea. English football has an exceptional holding midfielder."

Man City take on Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.