Jorginho is Blues' new general: Richard Buxton
Hazard may be Chelsea's main man, but the Brazil-born midfielder is the unsung enforcer of 'Sarri-ball'
Upstaging Eden Hazard as Chelsea's master of ceremonies is a near-impossible task.
Many have unsuccessfully attempted to usurp the mercurial winger for the affections of Blues fans and managers alike, but Jorginho could soon succeed where countless others failed.
Sunday's 2-1 win over Newcastle United was a one-sided war of attrition, with Maurizio Sarri's side pummelling their hosts by possession and pass completion.
Hazard won the battle of hearts and minds in St James' Park's tactical massacre, opening the scoring via a penalty, but it was Jorginho that engineered the onslaught from within.
Chelsea have emerged as early dark horses in this season's English Premier League title race due to the dominance of their chestnut-haired enforcer.
Both that status and the success of his manager's attempts to implement "Sarri-ball" will live and die with the Brazil-born Italian.
Jorginho is more than a pass-master, although recent statistics bear out those qualities. On Tyneside, he set a new club record for the Londoners with a 93.5 per cent success rate on the ball in the first half, executing 19 more passes than their hosts' entire team.
An all-time EPL record almost fell in his presence, too, with Ilkay Guendogan's nine additional passes in Manchester City's clash with Chelsea last March the only thing keeping him from the top spot.
It is likely to be a case of when, rather than if, Jorginho surpasses that tally this season.
That overall passing ratio may have dropped slightly by the final whistle, but the midfielder still comfortably surpassed his opponents as he alone accounted for 15 per cent of the game's entire ball possession while Newcastle's overall team statistic stood at an abject 18 per cent.
No man is an island, but N'Golo Kante's omnipresence once gave rise to suggestions that he occupied every terrain of earth that was not otherwise covered by water.
The World Cup winner, however, no longer commands the strong reverence he enjoyed under Antonio Conte.
Quiet evolution has been at the heart of Chelsea's core line-up in recent years; Kante is merely reaping what was sown when he succeeded Cesc Fabregas as their midfield talisman.
Jorginho is cut from a different cloth to his predecessors.
Beyond his role as the pace-setter, he has doubled up as Sarri's on-field general; ensuring that teammates carry out their manager's bidding, even in moments when they have been guilty of slacking off.
VOCAL PRESENCE
Chelsea have lacked such a vocal presence since John Terry's departure, with Pedro Rodriguez on the receiving end of the 26-year-old's invective as he was ordered to press higher up the pitch.
Should they somehow manage to overhaul City this season, as well as see off a high-flying Liverpool, it will again be thanks to the exploits of their newest midfield maestro.
But Sarri needs both the supposed object of Real Madrid's affection as well as his dressing-room lieutenant to operate in tandem if his expansive ideology is to be realised in full.
Unless Hazard allows the spotlight to be shared, it never will.
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