On 14 July 2018, Jorginho signed for English team Chelsea on a five-year contract on the same day as Sarri was hired at the club. He joined for a transfer fee of £50m with £7m in potential add-ons, and was assigned the number 5 shirt. According to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, he was previously close to joining Manchester City. Jorginho made his debut on 5 August in the 2018 FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium against that very opponent, and was booed by City fans in Chelsea's 2–0 loss. Six days later, he played his first Premier League match, in which he scored a penalty in a 3–0 win at Huddersfield Town. In Chelsea's third league match of the campaign, a 2–1 win away at Newcastle United, Jorginho completed 158 passes, which was a new record for most successful passes by a Chelsea player in a single match in the Premier League, and the second all-time in the league, behind İlkay Gündoğan's 167 completed passes for Manchester City against Chelsea from the prior season. Jorginho went on to break the attempted passes record in Chelsea's sixth league match of the season on 23 September, attempting 180 passes in a 0–0 draw away at West Ham United, breaking the record of 173 attempted passes again set by Gündoğan in the same Manchester City–Chelsea match the year before. On 24 February 2019, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time in the 2019 EFL Cup Final against cup holders Manchester City, Jorginho missed Chelsea's first penalty in the resulting shoot-out, which ultimately saw Manchester City triumph 4–3. On 29 May, Jorginho featured in Chelsea's 4–1 victory over Arsenal in the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final.