On Monday night the midfielder was revealed to have come third in the voting for the 2021 version of the prestigious individual accolade, behind seven-times winner Lionel Messi and runner-up Robert Lewandowski. Current restrictions meant he was unable to attend the ceremony in Paris but he spoke during it via video link and then gave us his reaction to his achievement, which follows on from his Champions League win with Chelsea and Euro 2020 triumph with Italy.‘I am very happy but I achieved this not by myself but with the help of the whole team,’ Jorginho emphasised, ‘so I’m just really grateful for that and I'm really happy and proud of myself and proud of the whole group and proud of this team because we deserve it, all together.

‘I always say the first thing we need to think about is the group, the team. We need to put that at the front and then comes the individuals, so when we have an amazing group like this that works together, is really humble, always smiling, trying to help each other then of course the results come and you have awards.’A look at all the many players who have finished in the Ballon d’Or top threes, that stretch back to its first year in 1956, shows that few who operate in the type of role Jorginho fulfils on the pitch tend to feature. Therefore, he must be doing something special to catch the eye.‘I think so but again, especially in my position, I will not be able to achieve this without the work of the whole team,’ he says, ‘so this well-deserved because of the work of the team that we did all together, because if it was just me then that would not have happened.

‘Now we have a lot to play for, which keeps us working hard to try to win trophies, because they are what this club is about.’