John Obi Mikel insists Chelsea must replace a £25million star this summer, saying they ‘can’t go into the brand new season’ with him of their team.
Chelsea have been very energetic within the transfer market this summer, spending over £210m on seven signings, most recently recruiting Joao Pedro from Brighton.
It’s paid off up to now, with the brand new arrivals helping Enzo Maresca’s side reach the ultimate of the Club World Cup where they’ll tackle PSG on Sunday.
More business is predicted to be done before the 2025/26 season begins in August, but recent reports suggest the Blues is not going to buy a brand 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 up to now.
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While the Spaniard boasted the most effective save percentage within the Premier League last season, no player had more errors resulting in goal.
‘Quite a lot of the Chelsea fans can agree that we want one other top goalkeeper because Sanchez shouldn’t be doing it,’ club icon Mikel told talkSPORT.
‘The goalkeeper situation must be sorted out. We will’t go into the brand new season with Sanchez, I’m sorry. I’m sure that 99 per cent of the Chelsea fans will agree with me that Sanchez shouldn’t be the goalkeeper that may win us trophies. Definitely not.
‘Thus far, so good on 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 probably not been under pressure a lot.
‘But going right into a season where we’ve got the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup and all of this, we want a top, top goalkeeper.
Robert Sanchez Premier League stats 2024/25
Appearances: 32
Goals conceded: 34
Clean sheets: 10
Save percentage: 76.4%
Errors resulting in goal: 5
‘You’ve seen the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal – they’ve top, top goalkeepers. So, that area of the pitch must be sorted out and I’m sure the owners know that.’
Moreover, Mikel also wants Maresca to enhance his back-line this summer, as while he rates Wesley Fofana, Chelsea cannot depend on the Frenchman due to his fitness.
He added: ‘Once you talk in regards to the central defenders, Levi Colwill I like. I believe potentially he can turn out to be a top, top defender. He’s not there yet, but you’ll be able to see that that the potential is there.
‘I strongly consider that we do need one other top centre-back next to him. Tosin Adarabioyo is player, but he’s not a Chelsea standard defender. Benoit Badiashile the identical thing. We want to bring one other top centre-back just 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 incredible. We looked unbeaten, it was solid, all the pieces 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 bottom running in west London.
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