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John Obi Mikel says whether he wants Chelsea to sack Enzo Maresca

Lucas Arnold

Mon 17 February 2025 15:15, UK

Chelsea delivered another well below-par performance against Brighton & Hove Albion last week, meaning they’ve now slipped to sixth in the Premier League.

Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side have now fallen behind Bournemouth on goal difference, with Manchester City also going ahead in fourth.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	Man CityManchester City	25	13	5	7	52	35	17	44
5	B’mouthBournemouth	25	12	7	6	44	29	15	43
6	ChelseaChelsea	25	12	7	6	47	34	13	43
7	NewcastleNewcastle	25	12	5	8	42	33	9	41

Put simply, it would now be something of a disaster for Chelsea were they not to secure Champions League football this season, a side who were even being mentioned as outside title-contenders not so long ago.

However, Chelsea have only won two of their last nine Premier League outings and they’re now without their main number nine, Nicolas Jackson.

Despite his talent, Christopher Nkunku isn’t a natural striker, and Maresca does have a headache on his hands.

John Obi Mikel declares his position on Enzo Maresca’s future

That being said, former Blue John Obi Mikel shared his thoughts on the situation on his podcast recently, declaring his own position on Maresca’s future.

Mikel wasn’t happy with what he’s seen at Stamford Bridge recently, even if he did stop short of calling for Todd Boehly to get rid of Maresca.

READ MORE: Enzo Maresca names the Chelsea youngster he is considering playing as a striker to replace Nicolas Jackson

Speaking about the club’s recent form, Mikel said: “That would have been a f—— crisis back in the day. The helicopter would have been, surely would have been landed by now. Surely would have landed by now.

“And whoever is in charge would have been gone. The helicopter would have landed by now. There’s no way, there’s no two ways about it.

“I’m not calling for the sack of Enzo Maresca. I’m not. My issue is that what is going on is not right.

“You can talk about it, the recruitment process that I’ve been talking about the whole time – Paul Winstanley, I know the guy. Smart guy, clever guy.

“I’ve spoken to him a few times. Sounds bright, very, very bright guy. Knows his job.

“But I just think that the recruitment process at the summer, it wasn’t good enough, which I talked about.

“And a lot of Chelsea fans said, no, no, you just want Victor Osimhen at the club because he’s your friend – no he’s not.

“We needed a striker. We needed another goalkeeper, another top goalkeeper.”

Chelsea already planning for the summer under Maresca

Interestingly, Chelsea have hinted that Maresca will be staying given that the Italian has been key to recent transfer discussions at the club.

Chelsea are interested in Rafa Leao from AC Milan right now, but it remains to be seen how the club will approach the upcoming summer

The likes of Willian Estevao and Kendry Paez will soon be arriving at the club, an incredibly exciting pair.

And despite the investment in west London over the past few seasons, it seems as if Chelsea are still far from their ideal squad.

But either way, it’s clear that things need to improve under Maresca, who could find himself under pressure were he not to finish in the top four.