Reports: Chelsea were in talks for Jorginho-Miralem Pjanic swap ahead of midfielder's Barcelona move

Chelsea were in talks to conduct a swap deal with Juventus which would have seen Jorginho move to Turin and new Barcelona star Miralem Pjanic move to London, as per reports.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina star was part of one of the strangest transfer sagas in recent times as he moved to Barcelona as part of a deal which saw Arthur Melo move the other way. Pjanic, nearly seven years older to the Brazilian, was transferred to the Nou Camp for a fee of £59m.

However, he could have been on his way to Stamford Bridge should Juventus' deal with Barcelona not have materialised.

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Chelsea boss Lampard was keen on Barcelona star Pjanic

Pjanic in action for his new club Barcelona

As per reputed Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard was hopeful of sealing a swap deal with Jorginho and Pjanic. The Englishman is said to be a massive fan of the Juventus veteran and was willing to part ways with Jorginho to acquire his services.

On the other hand, Maurizio Sarri was also keen on signing Jorginho. The Italian coach reunited with his former midfield metronome at Chelsea after the pair worked together at Napoli.

However, Sarri was sacked as a consequence of Juventus' elimination from the UEFA Champions League's Round of 16 at the hands of Olympique Lyon, effectively ending the Bianconeri's interest in Jorginho.

COMPARED: Arthur vs. Miralem Pjanić in the league and Champions League since 2018/19.The first part of the swap has been confirmed. pic.twitter.com/NbAxtP4Ji7

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 29, 2020

Pjanic was also heavily in favour of a move to Barcelona. The former AS Roma man was keen to seal a switch to the Nou Camp and turned down Chelsea's attempts to sign him. Lampard's vice-captain Jorginho was then linked with a move to Arsenal in the final week of the transfer window, but the Blues refused to sell to Arsenal as they did not want to strengthen a direct rival.

The Gunners eventually completed the blockbuster signing of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid on deadline day after activating his €50m release clause. The Ghanian star has been on their radar for quite a while, and they triggered the clause just in time to complete the deal.

5 - Most direct free-kick goals in the top five European leagues since the start of 2011/12: 33 - LIONEL MESSI 🇦🇷 (9,6% de acierto)16 - MIRALEM PJANIĆ 🇧🇦 (11,9%)14 - Hakan Çalhanoğlu 🇹🇷 (9,9%)14 - Cristiano Ronaldo 🇵🇹 (5,4%)12 - Andrea Pirlo 🇮🇹 (10,3%).Artillería. pic.twitter.com/WqdHhVPCzp

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 2, 2020

Chelsea eventually decided to keep Jorginho and sent out Tiemoue Bakayoko on loan once again. The French destroyer moved to Napoli on a dry loan without an option to buy. The move will see him reunite with Gennaro Gattuso, the manager he worked with during his time at AC Milan.

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