Ask five Napoli fans about Jorginho, and you'll probably get five different opinions about the divisive Brazilian-Italian midfielder. One will praise his technical and passing skills, another will deride his defensive abilities, another will say he's simply not good enough, one will declare that he just needs a chance, and the last will laugh and walk away.
Jorginho has plenty of talent and skill, that much cannot be argued, but after getting dropped by Rafa Benitez midseason after a rough few games, never really getting back in the side for months, then closing the season with a couple brutal performances, many have wondered what the 23 year old's future with Napoli holds.
That future will apparently be decided, at least in part, on Wednesday. Napoli will be meeting with Hellas Verona, who still hold 50% of Jorginho's ownership, to negotiate a full ownership buyout on his contract. The deadline to make such an agreement is Thursday morning, with the blind bidding process -- colloquially known as "going to the envelopes" -- taking place later that day.
This is the last co-ownership decision deadline, with the FIGC declaring last summer that the process was being phased out to bring Italy in line with the rest of Europe on that regard. Napoli and Hellas Verona delayed their decision on who would own Jorginho for one more year, but they have to come to a final decision this week, because after Thursday, no more co-ownerships will be allowed.
It's expected that Napoli will retain Jorginho, with Verona having moved on considerably from the tactics and squad that helped raise Jorginho's status two years ago. They're also not in the best financial shape, so it likely won't take much for Napoli to get them to give up their stake in Jorginho -- they paid a reported €5.5 million for him 18 months ago and likely wouldn't need to pay even that much again to get Verona to relent.
The question from there, though, is where Jorginho fits with Napoli down the line, or even if he fits. That's another matter entirely, though, and for Maurizio Sarri to decide. In the meantime, we just know that he's almost certainly still in the club's plans -- for now, at least.
