Chelsea of England legend, John Mikel Obi is lamenting over what he referred to as the club now ‘suffering’ because they were unable to replace their captain, Enzo Fernandez when he opted to move over to English Premier Leaguue rivals, Manchester City.
Sports247 reports that, although The Blues have only lost once this season, which was a 2-1 slump in a London derby away to defending champions, Arsenal, Mikel opined that Chelsea are ‘suffering’ because they did not replace the Argentine midfielder fondly called Enzo.
The former Super Eagles’ captain noted further that, while Xabi Alonso’s team got a whopping £125m from selling Enzo, his departure has led to a gap in their mid-section, lack of cover for the defeence and a resultant sorry run of conceding nine goals in four EPL games.
Having also conceded three goals against Leeds United in the Carabao Cup, Mikel stressed that Fernandez’s joint-Prem record transfer to Etihad Stadium on deadline day has not helped matters in Chelsea’s midfield, as well as their defence, hence his worries about their chances this term.
Mikel added on his Obi One podcast: “We knew Enzo Fernandez wanted to leave the club. We knew for so long that he wanted to go. Yes, we’ve got £125m sitting in the bank, but we failed to bring in another player.
“That’s why we are suffering right now. We talk about leaking goals. Yes, we can blame the defence, but you need at least two holding players to be able to shield and protect the back-four in that system.
“You need that because you’re going to be exposed. That is one position that the club has failed to strengthen during the transfer window. We failed. Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro… they’re not going to defend as much.”
