John Obi Mikel believes the door isn’t completely shut for Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen to join Chelsea in the future.
The Blues pursued Osimhen for the majority of last summer, but were unable to agree a deal for the Nigeria international as he wasn’t prepared to fit in with the club’s wage structure.
Chelsea once again decided against signing a striker in January, and are now in the midst of a striker crisis following injuries to both Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson.
Mikel on Osimhen to Chelsea
Fans were left frustrated by the failed pursuit of Osimhen and feel the club should have pivoted to alternative targets earlier.
Chelsea had agreed a deal for Samu Omorodion, but then pulled out of it at the last minute and ended up signing Joao Felix instead.
Jackson’s promising start to the season showed it may not have been bad to miss out on a striker, but despite scoring nine league goals the 23-year-old hasn’t scored in 2025, and he’s now out until April with a hamstring injury.
Chelsea are said to be leading the race for Liam Delap, and it’s believed he will leave Ipswich regardless of whether they stay up.
Benjamin Sesko is also of interest but Chelsea are thought to be behind Arsenal in the race for the 21-year-old, and now Mikel has had his say on whether a move for Osimhen could still be possible.
“Chelsea has always been his club,” he told his Obi One Podcast.
“He has come out open to say it’s his childhood club, growing up, he’s always wanted to play for the club, his idol is Didier Drogba.
“He loves the way he played. He made it pretty clear that this is a club he wants to come to. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done last summer, but listen, you never know, I don’t think the door is shut completely.”
We Really Need A Striker If Chelsea Are Serious. There Always Give Jackson The Benefit Of The Doubt Even When He Miss Goal Or Not, Chelsea Should Have Sign Victor Osimhen Or Delap So If You Listen To Me You Should Use Arsenal Strategy Use A 4 3 3 Formation You Don’t Have A Real Striker Now And You Want Him Nkunku To Be There As A False 9 He Is A False 10 Use This 4 3 3 Against Aston Villa And See Enzo Maresca Goalkeeper:Jorgensen
Defenders:James,Tosin Or Chalobah,Colwill,Cucurella
Midfielders:Enzo,Caicedo,Mathis
Strikers:Neto,Palmer,Sancho Use It And See.