Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho has won the 2020/21 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award

Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho has been named 2021/21 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for his contributions towards Chelsea and Italy National team.

The 29-year-old, who last season became only the tenth player to win a European Cup and a EURO in the same year, beat off competition from Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Chelsea team-mate N’Golo Kanté.

The award was announced during the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul.

The Player of the Match display against Porto in Chelsea’s quarter-final opener underlined his ability to dictate play and vindicated Thomas Tuchel’s decision to make him part of his first-choice midfield pairing. Roberto Mancini took note, making the 29-year-old the linchpin of Italy’s EURO-winning outfit.

The top ten Voting results

1 Jorginho (Chelsea & Italy) – 175 points
2 Kevin De Bruyne (Man. City & Belgium) – 167 points
3 N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea & France) – 160 points
4 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, now at Paris & Argentina) – 148 points
5 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern & Poland) – 140 points
6 Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan, now at Paris & Italy) – 49 points
7 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 31 points
8 Raheem Sterling (Man. City & England) – 18 points
9 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus & Portugal) – 16 points
10 Erling Haaland (Dortmund & Norway) – 15 points

What is the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award?

For this award, players in Europe, irrespective of nationality, were judged according to their performances over the whole season in all competitions – both domestically and internationally – at either club or national team level.

Previous winners of UEFA men’s Player of the Year award

2019/20: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern & Poland)
2018/19: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool & Netherlands)
2017/18: Luka Modrić (Real Madrid & Croatia)
2016/17: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
2015/16: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
2014/15: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)
2013/14: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
2012/13: Franck Ribéry (Bayern & France)
2011/12: Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)
2010/11: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)

*Known as the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award from 2010/11 to 2015/16 inclusive

The selection criteria

A jury of coaches and journalists chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

The jury comprised the following:

• 24 coaches of the teams which participated in this summer’s UEFA EURO 2020
• 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48)
• 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each of UEFA’s member associations

Jorginho 2020/21 season in numbers

Achievements
UEFA Champions League winner, UEFA EURO 2020 winner, FA Cup runner-up

UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 12
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Player of the Match awards (KOs): 1

UEFA EURO 2020
Appearances: 7
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Star of the Match awards: 000:00 of 01:39Volume 0%00:0001:39 Penalty hero Jorginho on Italy win

Domestic league
Appearances: 28
Goals: 7