According to The Times, the Premier League's top six sides are all trying to sign Napoli's midfield maestro, Jorginho.

What's the story?

Napoli have been in superb domestic form losing only 3 games in Serie A all season.

While their failure to win last weekend handed Juventus their seventh consecutive league title, it was still a strong campaign from Maurizio Sarri's men.

At the heart of their midfield was Jorginho and his impressive performances have led Napoli to set an asking price of €60 million (£52.9 million)

Who is he?

Jorginho is the Brazilian born Italian footballer whose performances for Napoli this season have got the attention of England's elite.

Napoli brought Jorginho in from Hellas Verona in 2014 in a £8.5m deal. He operates in a three man midfield alongside Hamsik and Allan. In this dynamic, Hamsik acts as the playmaker, Allan as the enforcer and Jorginho is responsible for setting the pace of the game.

The ball control and passing skills he has at his disposal allows Jorginho to keep the play moving and he has the knack of finding pockets of space that mean he is a constant option for a pass.

The midfield maestro is one of the most accurate passers on the continent. He currently rates highest in Europe’s top 5 divisions in terms of average passes per game (94.7) all while maintaining a pass accuracy of 89.7%.

Jorginho also has the reputation of being an intelligent footballer and he is capable of mapping out a move well before play has developed.

He often comes very deep to receive the ball, sometimes dropping even behind the two centre-backs, but once on the ball he can quickly distribute and find passes that create chances out of nothing.

In this sense, Jorginho has been touted as a natural successor to Michael Carrick, the veteran midfielder on the red side of Manchester.

Will he leave Napoli?

Txiki Begiristain, the current director of football at Man City is understood to have made an informal enquiry.

The volume and accuracy of Jorginho's passing has resonated with Guardiola who is on the lookout to replace veteran midfielders, Fernandinho (33) and Yaya Toure (34)

While Jorginho's agent, Joao Santos, has recently been vocal in discussing the player's future.

“A Manchester City bid for Jorginho? Everyone knows there are four or five Premier League clubs who want Jorginho.

“Napoli have never talked about anything and I’ve never talked to other teams officially. I’m waiting for Napoli to define his future.

“Jorginho still has two years left on his contract, and if Napoli want to sell him, he’ll just have to find an agreement with another team and then he’ll have to talk to us about it.”

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