And the 54-year-old views Jorginho as an ideal piece of the squad rebuild, with the same outlet claiming first contacts between the player's entourage and the Serie A giants taking place in recent days.

The report goes on to state Jorginho is 'fine' at Stamford Bridge but is not ruling out a return to Italy, where he left in 2018 when joining the west London side from Napoli in 2018.

Sporting director Federico Cherubini has also reportedly 'memorised' Jorginho's financial requests and is waiting for the green light from the player's agents and the Blues to try and tempt him away.

However, Juventus realise they must sell Brazilian midfielder Arthur - who was linked with a move to Arsenal in January - and that Chelsea's new owners must be confirmed before negotiations can accelerate.

 

Jorginho finished third in last year's Ballon d'Or rankings after winning the Champions League with Chelsea and Euro 2020 with Italy, and has made 42 appearances in all competitions for the Blues this season.

The midfielder - whose tame penalty nearly saw Chelsea miss out on three points against West Ham at the weekend - was the target of Tuchel's fury earlier this month after the German was seen raging at him during Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final victory over Crystal Palace.

But the German played down his touchline fury, insisting he 'loves' the midfielder, and even admitted he has overused the Italy international - and that might why Jorginho has not hit his usual standards.

'I was very hard on him during the match. He had some situations he could do better and normal does.' Tuchel said last week.

 

'It is never personal. I love Jorgi. I know that he knows it. We see now we overused him, I have the feeling we see the consequences of these huge amount of matches.

'If he plays he is always fully involved, gives everything and plays with a lot of effort. He has to be absolutely fresh to have the influence he normally has. He is not mentally, physically in the freshest moment at the minute.

'He had two or three situations where he could do better (vs Crystal Palace). Nothing personal. Nothing that stands between us.'

Tuchel also believes Jorginho, who has played through pain at times this season, has felt some mental hangover from his international exploits with Italy.

 

'He played injured, sacrificed for the team (this season). I think you see it now. You can never underestimate how much pressure is on playing for the national team, the country, for Italy,' Tuchel added.

'The demands are high after big success like winning the Euros. I think he really felt the pressure there, everybody for Italy felt it.

This is normal. Sometimes after big successes, it's very difficult to keep on going. He put a lot of responsibility naturally on his shoulders because he is never shy to do so. He is never shy to do it here, this is why I love him.'