JUST like the Blues Brothers, you could say Jorginho is on a mission from God.
The Arsenal and Italy star, 31, has become one of football’s most recognisable figures.
A serial winner, landing the Champions League trophy at club level and the Euros for his country, has meant he has enjoyed an incredible career.
But when he was just 13 he had to start at the very bottom.
Brazilian-born Jorginho was one of 50 kids picked as part of a project formed by Italian businessmen in Guabiruba to create the next wave of South American-based talent.
The academy he lived in, some 113 miles from his Imbituba home, wasn’t much to write home about.
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Windowless rooms, monotonous meals and ice-cold baths made for a grim experience.
Two years later he was signed by Verona who played in the second tier of Italian level at that time.
Jorginho’s first deal at the club was far from lucrative. While his agent took £27,000 from the transaction, the emerging midfielder had just £17 a week to live on.
He recalled to Players Tribune: “I’d go to the main square in Verona and buy a milkshake at McDonald’s.
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“It cost one euro. Fries? Burger? Forget it, man! Happy Meals were for the rich kids.”
At the same time, Riccardo Prisciantelli, the former chief executive of Hellas Verona, gave Jorginho to a trusted priest and he lived in a convent among other monks.
His dire financial circumstances continued for a year-and-a-half until he met goalkeeper Rafael Pinheiro who took the Italy Euro 2020 winner under his wing.
Rafael realised that Jorginho was being shortchanged and alerted Verona’s hierarchy to his plight.
He also explained that the rest of his meagre pay packet was used for the basics such as mobile credit to talk to his family and for toiletries.
“I could not do anything,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I used five euros for mobile credit, bought hygiene products, which was 15 euros, and the rest was used online to talk to my family.
“It was like that for a year-and-a-half.
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“In the second year, I trained with the professionals and when I met the Brazilian goalkeeper Rafael Pinheiro, who is almost a brother to me, I told my story and he did not believe it.
“From there, he did not let me miss anything.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
