Giovanni Branchini, the agent of Riccardo Montolivo has criticised Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho, stating Montolivo is a better player than him.
Jorginho has established himself as one of Europe’s finest midfielders during his stint at Napoli. After joining Chelsea, Jorginho has done well under Maurizio Sarri so far.
However, his performances for Italy in the UEFA Nations League have not been as per expectations so far.
Italy began their Nations League campaign by drawing against Poland at Bologna. In their next match, they lost 1-0 to Portugal at Lisbon yesterday.
Jorginho’s performances were really lackluster in both matches. In the match against Poland, he did equalise for Italy by converting a penalty which was also his first international goal. However, he made an error which saw Piotr Zielinski give Poland the lead.
Montolivo’s agent told Italian sports newspaper Corriello dello Sport, “If you must play this Jorginho in the national team then I say that my Montolivo, who has scandalously been ousted, is much better.”
Riccardo Montolivo was one of Italy’s finest midfielders at a time. However, injuries have prevented the 33-year old from showcasing his full potential in the last 4 years.
The AC Milan player has played 66 matches for Italy, scoring two goals. He helped Italy reach the final of Euro 2012. Montolivo last played for Italy in a World Cup qualifier against Israel 12 months ago. He played only two minutes in that game.
Jorginho is someone on whom Italy will count to build their game around. His performances in the last two matches were below expectations. However, the 26-year old will be expected to bounce back strongly and put on much better performances for Italy.
Italy’s next Nations League match is against Poland at Chorzow next month.
