John Obi Mikel insists Chelsea must replace a £25million star this summer, saying they ‘can’t go into the new season’ with him in their team.
Chelsea have been very active in the transfer market this summer, spending over £210m on seven signings, most recently recruiting Joao Pedro from Brighton.
It’s paid off so far, with the new arrivals helping Enzo Maresca’s side reach the final of the Club World Cup where they’ll take on PSG on Sunday.
More business is expected to be done before the 2025/26 season begins in August, but recent reports suggest the Blues will not buy a new goalkeeper.
They tried to sign AC Milan’s Mike Maignan but with that deal now off, Robert Sanchez looks set to retain his No.1 status despite a mixed time at Stamford Bridge so far.
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While the Spaniard boasted the best save percentage in the Premier League last season, no player had more errors leading to goal.
‘A lot of the Chelsea fans can agree that we need another top goalkeeper because Sanchez is not doing it,’ club icon Mikel told talkSPORT.
‘The goalkeeper situation needs to be sorted out. We can’t go into the new season with Sanchez, I’m sorry. I’m sure that 99 per cent of the Chelsea fans will agree with me that Sanchez is not the goalkeeper that will win us trophies. Definitely not.
‘So far, so good in this tournament. He’s made mistakes but they haven’t led to a goal yet and we’ve been lucky, we’ve been scoring goals, defending well. He’s not really been under pressure so much.
‘But going into a season where we have the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup and all of this, we need a top, top goalkeeper.
Robert Sanchez Premier League stats 2024/25
Appearances: 32
Goals conceded: 34
Clean sheets: 10
Save percentage: 76.4%
Errors leading to goal: 5
‘You’ve seen the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal – they have top, top goalkeepers. So, that area of the pitch needs to be sorted out and I’m sure the owners know that.’
Furthermore, Mikel also wants Maresca to improve his back-line this summer, as while he rates Wesley Fofana, Chelsea cannot rely on the Frenchman because of his fitness.
He added: ‘When you talk about the central defenders, Levi Colwill I like. I think potentially he can become a top, top defender. He’s not there yet, but you can see that that the potential is there.
‘I strongly believe that we do need another top centre-back next to him. Tosin Adarabioyo is a good player, but he’s not a Chelsea standard defender. Benoit Badiashile the same thing. We need to bring another top centre-back like the likes of [William] Saliba or Gabriel [Magalhaes].
‘The partnership with him [Fofana] and Colwill during last season before he got injured was absolutely fantastic. We looked unbeaten, it was solid, everything was going well.’
‘But as soon as he got injured, Levi Colwill’s form also dipped because he missed him.’
Chelsea have recently signed centre-back Mamadou Sarr from affiliate club Strasbourg but at just 19 it’s unlikely he’ll hit the ground running in west London.
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