John Obi Mikel has fired a ruthless rant at Jadon Sancho, accusing him of deceiving Chelsea and telling him to “wake the f*** up”.
Sancho arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer having endured a torrid time at Manchester United after being bought for £73million. The Englishman was never able to replicate the form that saw him garner such a fee at Borussia Dortmund, but his initial showings for the Blues held promise.
The 24-year-old began life under Enzo Maresca with an assist and a Player of the Match performance in a 1-0 win away at Bournemouth. He tallied another two assists in his next two matches, both wins.
However, since these glimpses, the English winger has disappointed. He’s managed just a single goal in his last 10 league matches and now Mikel, who played nearly 400 times for the Blues, has given Sancho a piece of his incredibly critical mind.
“Jadon Sancho, he’s come on, and he’s deceived us with a couple of games,” Mikel stated on The Obi One Podcast. “We thought, ‘Oh, f*****g hell, now we’re getting the Jadon Sancho from Dortmund.’ But he’s gone again. I don’t know what’s happened to Jadon. He’s disappeared.
“Off the grid. He takes the ball. He doesn’t go past people any more. He doesn’t create chances anymore. He doesn’t help the team as much as he should be. And [Noni] Madueke is now injured as well.
“This is when players should step in and take responsibility and say, ’You know what, listen. Now, I have the opportunity to play week in and week out, and I need to be ready for it. I need to help the team with assists and goalscoring,’ and they’re not doing that.
“Jadon needs to step up. I don’t know what’s happened with Jadon, but Jadon Sancho needs to wake the f*** up. The Premier League is the toughest league in the world. If you don’t do it here…”
Sancho moved from Old Trafford in a loan deal that includes an obligation to purchase him for a reported £25m this summer should Chelsea finish above 15th in the Premier League. Yet, with just two goals to his name in 23 matches across all competitions, this move may turn out to be a poor one.
The Englishman aside, Mikel was also incredibly scathing of his former club’s purchases, criticising the fact that a top striker wasn’t bought and that the ousted Joao Felix left the club in January for AC Milan, having only been brought back to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
He argued: “For me, the recruitment process has been really, really poor. You brought back Joao Felix from wherever the f*** he was. You brought him back to the football club and let him go after three months. What is going on?
“Right now, the depth should be more for the money that has been spent. You don’t have healthy competition as a centre-forward. It’s not good enough. We need consistency.”
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