John Obi Mikel has blasted the treatment of Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah from Todd Boehly and the Chelsea ownership group.
The Blues have once again embarked on another summer of heavy transfer spending, signing the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto and Filip Jorgensen as they seek to back new manager Enzo Maresca.
However, in order to balance the books, Chelsea are also having to make big sales. Not only have the likes of Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech left the club on free transfers, but the Blues have also raised substantial fees for Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson.
That’s not all. Recent reports have linked centre-back Trevoh Chalobah with a move away from Chelsea, with the likes of Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Bologna all mentioned as potential suitors (via The Chelsea Chronicle).
And then there’s the curious case of Conor Gallagher who, despite wearing the captain’s armband at various points last season and emerging as one of the top performers under Mauricio Pochettino, is seemingly being forced out of the club.
Gallagher flew out to Madrid last week to complete a move to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Talks have stalled with Gallagher having to return to London and train with the Chelsea U21s, but the England international’s move is still expected to go through this summer.
Mikel blasts Chelsea treatment of Gallagher and Chalobah
Chelsea’s treatment of Gallagher and Chalobah has riled up Mikel, who has blasted Todd Boehly and the rest of the club’s ownership group for alienating to academy products and lifelong fans.
“Of course, two young boys that bleed blue, exactly,” he told his The Obi One podcast. “Through and through. At the club when they were little boys and now we have to sell them to make sure it balances the books.
“Then it comes down to the owners just spending way too much money and buying everybody that’s got a price tag on [them]. Just spending way too much money, buying way too many players we don’t need.
“Now, you have to sell, for me the best player last season apart from Cole Palmer, [which] was Conor Gallagher.
“He was the only player you could see was putting in effort, running and putting in the performances that was needed to be at the club, you know what I mean.
“For me, I think he should still be at the club. Also Chalobah as well for me when he came back from his injury. He was the best centre-back we had. I don’t think we lost a game when he came back, or probably one or two or something like that.
“But he was absolutely fantastic when he came back from injury and he played all the games.
“Poch trusted him and brought him into the team and he played all the games, he was absolutely fantastic. Now we have to sell those two players to balance the books.
“Two young players who bleed Chelsea, and now you have to sell them to balance the books.”
Former midfielder Mikel — who played 372 times for Chelsea between 2006 and 2016, winning two Premier League titles and a Champions League among a host of other honours — stook the boot in even further on the powers that be at Stamford Bridge.
“I just think it’s bad business from the owners. Absolutely bad business from the owners,” Mikel continued.
“Now, we’ve lost two fantastic players! I think ‘is Chalobah going to improve the team?’ of course! Hell yeah! Is Conor Gallagher going to improve the team? For me, yes.
“When he played, towards the end of the season when he played with [Moises] Caicedo, the energy that he has, for me, we need that. We definitely need that.”