Former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, has predicted that Chelsea will finish in seventh place in the 2024-2025 Premier League season, expressing doubts about their ability to win many games.
This prediction follows Chelsea’s sixth-place finish under former manager Mauricio Pochettino. However, Pochettino has been replaced by Enzo Maresca, and Mikel Obi seems skeptical about how Maresca will handle the challenges that may arise during the season.
“I’ve always said I predict Chelsea to finish seventh in the Premier League this season because I just don’t see them winning that many games”, Mikel Obi told beIN Sports.
“I think it’s going to be a tough season, and when the going gets tough, I want to see how Enzo Maresca is going to deal with it.
“I don’t think he’s been in that situation before, and that’s going to be tested.”
Meanwhile, Mikel Obi has criticized Chelsea’s decision to put Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah up for sale this summer.
He expressed disappointment with the club’s owners, describing the move as “bad business.”
Mikel Obi believes that ballagher and Chalobah should have remained at the club, emphasizing their deep connections to Chelsea and their potential contributions to the team.
He pointed out that selling these promising young players to balance the books reflects poorly on the club’s ownership and results in the loss of valuable talent.
“Of course, two young boys that bleed blue, exactly,” Obi Mikel said on 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].
“Now, you have to sell; for me, the best player last season, apart from Cole Palmer, was Conor Gallagher.
“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 added, “I just think it’s bad business from the owners. Absolutely bad business from the owners. Now, we’ve lost two fantastic players .”
